Distracting Ranger
by Angela3511
Summary: Stephanie decides to take her life and romantic future into her own hands when she starts dating someone new.  Ranger is seriously displeased.  A humorous 'Strong Stephanie' story. Eventual Babe HEA, Cupcake friendly.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own these characters, they all belong to Janet Evanovich. But if she'd like to relinquish custody of Ranger, or any of the Merry Men for that matter, I'd be more than happy to take them off of her hands. I promise to take very good care of any/ all of them._

_I'm making no money here, so please don't sue me. All I have are student loans and you're welcome to take those at any time, no questions asked._

_**Author's note: **__This is the second in what seems to be a developing series: Strong Stephanie. This is NOT related to my first fan fiction, "Stephanie's Great Escape", except that my version of Stephanie is mentally/ physically stronger and more confident than the JE novel version. As of now, I do not plan for it to be an epic 150,000+ word story but I don't seem have much, if any, control of my muse._

_This is an eventual Babe HEA but not before Ranger really has to work his hot Cuban buns off for it. No (major) Morelli bashing._

_Please let me know what you think! I live for reviews!_

_**Chapter 1**_

You have to be kidding me. I'm so sick of this alpha dog posturing between Joe and Ranger. Joe was my on-off boyfriend, currently very much off forever, and Ranger was something even more complicated, if that's possible. They were both extremely masculine and they were both fighting for top dog position. But it felt more like the biggest dogshit competition to me.

You know, the similarities between the two were striking. Both were tall and dark, with dark hair and dark eyes. Both were bubbling over with testosterone. Both were in some type of law enforcement. Both were hot enough to melt ice cream with just one look. I guess I have a type. Unfortunately, the personifications of my type were both acting like asses. Hope that's not also a part of my type, I was getting really sick of men who were asses.

They were both walking into the office where I work for my icky cousin Vinnie as a bail enforcement agent, also known as a bounty hunter. But the door wasn't wide enough for them to both walk in at the same time and they both wanted to be first. So they were trying to knock each other out of the doorway.

"Guys, just flip a quarter or something," I called out with exasperation evident in my voice. "Stop acting like asses."

They ignored me and continued jockeying for position. I looked over at Connie and Lulu. They were both watching the display with fascination.

Finally, they were both in the room. Ranger had won the shoving war and he sauntered in first, but Joe was hot on his heels, glaring furiously at Ranger.

Joe and I were definitely done, I was tired of his insistence that I had to quit my job and stop being friends with Ranger or the Merry Men to be with him. I refused to have to be the one to make all the changes to make our relationship work. And I wasn't even sure that I wanted the same things that Joe wanted, namely to be a wife and mother. Kids scare the crap out of me.

Ranger had said before that if my bed was empty for too long he would be in it, but it had been over three months and he'd made no move whatsoever. He hadn't even been kissing me in the alley as much as he was before. So it was pissing me off quite a bit.

I was really, really tired of this childish fight between the two.

"Cupcake, you have to choose! Me or him," Joe exclaimed. Ranger just smirked at me. The last time Joe had made this demand, I had broken up with Joe.

"Joe, we've talked about this. I'm not going to quit my job and stop being friends with Ranger or his guys! They're my friends!" I retorted immediately.

"Cupcake, you don't have to quit your job, even though it's going to get you killed one day. You just have to stop hanging out with Manoso so damn much. It won't look good for my wife and the mother of my children to spend so much time with thugs!"

"Argh!" I threw my hands up. "I'm not going to marry you and I'm not going to have kids with you!"

Ranger had a small smile on his face.

"And what are you smiling at?" I glared at Ranger.

"Babe," he said as he looked from Joe to me.

"I'm entitled to be friends with anyone I choose to be friends with. But this attitude between the two of you is really getting on my nerves. Stop it or I stop talking to the both of you!"

Both Ranger and Joe smiled at me, and something inside of me snapped.

"You both seem to be under the misapprehension that you're the only two men in all of New Jersey. You're not. I don't have to put up with either one of you, so stop pushing me," I said with my voice deadly calm. That got their attention but neither stopped smiling.

"Babe," Ranger said with a bit of a chuckle.

I leaned forward, making sure the girls were making their best impression. Both guys dropped their gaze from my eyes to my chest.

"Ranger," I said "how many distractions have I done for you?"

He pulled his gaze up to my eyes. "I don't know the exact number."

"I'd guess around fifty. Does that sound about right to you?" I asked him. He nodded. "And out of those fifty, how many times was I unsuccessful if the guy was in the club or bar or whatever?"

"Just a couple," he replied, looking a bit confused at the direction of my questions.

"There have been two. One came out when I promised to show him knock-off Jimmy Choo's in my trunk. And the other came out when I called in Hector. So the only two I failed to get out were playing for the other team. So I have a 100% success rate for heterosexual men." I paused for a moment to allow that to sink in. "I've successfully lured out forty-eight guys who knew that there were people out there looking for them because they skipped out on their bail."

Lula and Connie's eyes were so wide I thought they were going to fall out. They knew where I was going with this. "So, think about it. If I can get 100% of guys to come out when they know they're in trouble, how do you think I'll do with regular guys who aren't skips? How long do you think it would take for me to get someone to go home with me?"

Ranger's blank face slammed down and Joe looked pissed. "Exactly." I stood up slowly and let a small smile play across my face. I turned my back on the guys and looked at Connie and Lula.

"Dancing tonight, ladies?" I asked. They both nodded so I turned to face Lula. "Wanna go help me find a little black dress?" She nodded again.

I turned and walked seductively between Joe and Ranger. "See ya around, boys," I called out as I strolled out the door with Lula right behind me. I kept a little extra swing in my hips as I walked to Lula's red Firebird and folded myself into the passenger seat.

Lula got in without a word and headed towards the mall. Once we were out of visible range, she exploded. "Damn, girl! What the hell was that?"

"They seem to think they're my only options in Trenton. I'm tired of their shit so I was just reminding them that other men do occasionally find me attractive too."

"Batman and Supercop didn't look happy," she replied.

"They can both deal with it. I'm not dating either one of them, they have no claim on me," I said with a pissy tone.

"You sure you should be taunting Batman?" Lula sounded hesitant.

"I've seen him a lot less since Joe and I broke up than I did before. I think he just liked the competition. He only wanted to be around me when I was in a relationship with Joe, when I was no threat to him. Well, fuck that!" I told her.

"You think he's really going to let you bring home some new man?"

"He doesn't have a choice," I said. "He had a chance, he'd had three months of chances. So he doesn't get to be upset if I see someone else!"

"We really going dancing tonight? And to buy you a new dress?" Lula wanted to know.

"Yes and yes." We chatted for a few minutes about the various clubs. I texted Connie and she said that our plan was fine. We'd meet for dinner and then hit the club. I texted the info to Mary Lou too, but she immediately texted back that she couldn't since Lenny was working late on a job.

We parked at the mall and went into Macy's. I found a great dress on the clearance rack. Given how little fabric there was, it should be less expensive! It was strapless and had a bodice that dipped low and made the best of my limited cleavage. The skirt was longer than I usually wore to a distraction, but it more than made up for that by having slits on both sides exposing more of my leg. It was black with a couple of bold, electric blue flowers.

My bank account balance wasn't that big, so I decided that I had some black heels at home that would work with the dress. I knew also had underwear that would work with it too, so I had to reluctantly walk by Victoria's Secret without going inside.

Lula found a poison green tiny dress. Her cups runneth over, literally. She fit her plus size body into a much smaller size. She should be a quality control tester for Spandex. She certainly tested the hell out of the integrity of those seams.

She dropped me off by the bonds office so I could pick up my POS du jour. I'd meet the girls at Pino's for dinner before we headed out to shake our grove thang at the club.

I went home and immediately started on my regular beauty ritual. I hopped in the shower and shaved all the important areas. I didn't plan to bring a guy home tonight, but I certainly wouldn't mind getting a few numbers. Once everything was silky smooth and soft, I started working on my curls, trying to tame the beast that is my hair. Once my hair was cooperating, I applied makeup, focusing on my eyes. My blue eyes were one of my best features and I wanted them to stand out. After a couple of coats of mascara, I walked into the bedroom to get dressed.

Just as I finished zipping the dress, I heard my front door open. It had to be either Ranger or Joe, not that it was exactly a rare occurrence for someone to break into my apartment. The tingle on my neck told me it was Ranger.

"Why are you here, Ranger?" I called out as I slid my feet into four-inch high strappy heels. They looked awesome with the dress and made my legs look endlessly long. I bent over to buckle the straps and heard a slight gasp. I smirked to myself. Guess Ranger liked the view.

"Babe," he said.

"Ranger," I replied. His one-word sentences made me nuts at times. It was my new goal in life to make him as nuts as he made me. And I'm nothing if not tenacious.

"You aren't really going out to hook up, are you?" he asked.

I looked up at him. "What does it look like?" I asked Ranger.

"Babe," he replied. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Why?" he asked. We really need to work on his communication skills.

"Why not?" I asked him in return.

"Babe."

"Ranger, you have to use actual words if you want to talk to me."

"Are you really going to go look for guys?" he asked.

"Yep."

"Babe."

"Ranger."

He sighed. Yes, I was already making him nuts!

"I broke up with Joe months ago. No reason why I shouldn't explore other possibilities, is there?" I said with raised eyebrows as I stood up.

His blank face was firmly in place and he didn't respond. "That's what I thought," I said as I walked to my closet and bent over to rummage around looking for an appropriate purse. I finally pulled out a beaded black clutch and walked over to the mirror to check it out.

"What do you think? Will it work?" I asked Ranger. He just shot me an unreadable look so I shrugged to myself and checked out my reflection in the mirror. It would work.

Ranger followed me as I went into the kitchen and switched the essentials from my big everyday purse into the clutch. I put my ID, cash, debit card, lipstick and cell phone into the clutch and then slid the wrist strap over my hand. I pumped my hands in the air to raise the roof as a test to see how it would feel when I was dancing. It would be fine.

I grabbed my keys and had my hand on the doorknob before I felt Ranger's hand go around my wrist. I looked at him in askance. He growled faintly and moved towards me like he was going to kiss me. Oh hell no. I put one hand on his chest to stop him and moved back. "No."

He stopped and looked at me. "No?" he said questioningly.

"I'm not your toy. You don't get to come in and kiss me whenever you feel like it. So back off."

"Babe," he seemed torn between shock and amusement. "You've made your point. You can stop now."

"I'm not planning to stop until I have a least a couple of phone numbers."

Then he wasn't as amused. "You're really going to go looking for guys at a club?"

"Seems like a better option than trying to meet them at work given my current occupation, don't you think?" I replied. "The last couple of guys I met at work haven't really worked out all that great."

I knew my jab had reached him when his blank look had settled across his face. I'd met Ranger when Connie had asked him to help me get started as a bounty hunter and Joe was the first person I brought in as a BEA. Of course, I'd known Joe all my life but that was how we got reacquainted.

He stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. His very yummy chest, but I was trying very hard not to focus on that.

"I don't do casual and you don't do anything but casual. We can be friends or we can be a lot more than friends, but none of this weird in between shit anymore. So I think it would be a good idea if I moved on to greener pastures," I told him as I slipped out of the door. "Be sure to lock up when you leave!" I called out as I stepped into the elevator.

I had no illusions that it would be easy to move on from Ranger but I had to try. I loved him and I was in love with him, but he wasn't willing to give a relationship a shot. He'd told me that multiple times, that his love didn't come with a ring but a condom might be handy. That his life didn't lend itself to relationships. That he loved me, but in his own way, whatever the hell that means. And I wanted to be loved by someone who was at least willing to call it a relationship. I'd been married for ten minutes years ago so I wasn't exactly enamored with the idea of getting married again, but I did want to at least be in a committed relationship.

And if that's what I wanted, then I had to accept that Ranger wouldn't be the man to give me that. He'd give me a car, a safe place to stay when I needed it, a job when I was broke. Hell, he'd even give his life to protect me but he wouldn't give me a relationship. So we'd stay friends but the kissing and flirting would have to stop.

I met Connie and Lula for dinner and told them what happened. They were both suitably amused and impressed that I'd managed to walk away. We spent some time talking about how all men are scum before we finished dessert and headed to the club. Since I was driving, I wouldn't have more than one drink. What can I say, I'm a cheap drunk. Saved me a load of money when I was in college, though. Two drinks and I'm very happy, three drinks and I'm dancing on a table and four drinks and I'm out like a light.

We hit the club and it was fairly busy for a Wednesday night. Of course, the weekends were busier but I didn't feel like waiting two nights. I'm a pretty impetuous person and I don't like to waste time once I've made a decision.

We found a table and started chatting, scoping out the men and the competition. We were pretty lucky in that there were more guys than girls, so it probably wouldn't take too much work to attract any interest.

Once we hit the dance floor, it only took a minute or two before we had guys approach. I was dancing with a pretty cute blonde with gray eyes, Connie had a short but muscular Italian looking guy and Lula was cutting loose with a tall and lanky Latino.

After the finishing the dance with the tongue-tied blonde, and getting his number for my troubles, I danced with Lula's Latino guy while she got jiggy with a tall African American man who seemed really interested in all of Lula's assets. Her assets are exponentially more than mine. I'm a B cup, a B- on a good day. Lula's a DDD pretty much all the time.

We danced with various guys for a while before a guy with sandy brown hair and peridot green eyes cut in to dance with me. "Lester! What are you doing here?" I demanded. Lester Santos was one of Ranger's Merry Men, and rumor was that he was also Ranger's cousin. Soon to be late cousin once I killed one or the other, or both, for keeping watch on me. He was also someone I considered to be a friend since he was one of the more chatty Merry Men and I'd gotten to know him fairly well over the last couple of years.

"Hey Beautiful! I could ask you the same thing. What's shaking, other than your beautiful ass?" he said with a big grin as we danced together.

"Did Ranger tell you that I would be here?" I asked him suspiciously.

He looked taken aback. "I'm off today, Beautiful. I haven't talked to Ranger at all in the last twenty-four hours. Why?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "He and Joe were acting like asses again today, you know how they get." Lester just nodded at me and grinned. "So I reminded them both that I don't have any problems getting skips out of bars and that I probably wouldn't have any problems finding a regular guy if I just put forth the effort."

Lester's grin grew huge at that. "And how did they react?"

I snorted. "Ranger showed up at my apartment as I was getting ready. Told me I could stop now since I had made my point."

Lester laughed. "Oh I bet you just loved hearing that!" Apparently Lester had also gotten to know me pretty well since he knew that I would most decidedly not like that at all.

I pulled back and just shot him a mock glare. He just laughed again, his green eyes dancing merrily.

"So tell me, Beautiful, why aren't you with Ranger? Everybody knows that you're his woman."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Les, we're really just friends," I said and he shot me an incredulous look. "I'm serious."

"You two generate enough electricity to power the city for a week. Try again."

I looked him in the eyes. "I am completely serious. We have chemistry, yeah, but nothing more than that. It will never be anything more than that."

Now Lester looked intrigued. "Why is that?" he asked.

I snorted at him. "Ranger doesn't do relationships."

Lester just kept looking at me. "And?" he prompted.

"And I don't do casual sex. I mean, it's not like I gotta have a ring first or anything like that but I'd need to at least feel like I was with someone where there was at least the possibility of a longer-term relationship," I explained. "So we're at an impasse. I got tired of it so I'm looking for greener pastures, as I told him."

"I thought you and the cop broke up because he was trying to push you into getting married," he said.

"That was part of it. I don't know if I ever want to get married again. My first try ended in abject failure. And Joe wanted me to change everything about me to marry him, and then to stay home all day cooking and making babies. No thanks. But there has to be at least some kind of a relationship, some acknowledgement that we're a couple at the very least. And Ranger's not willing to do that. So it's time to move on," I explained. The music changed and Lester pulled me closer as we started to dance to 'Hips don't lie'. The man has some moves, wow!

"So you're not with Ranger because he won't agree to a relationship?" he asked speculatively.

"Basically, yeah."

"That's messed up. Hell, you're already in a relationship! The man freaks out anytime you're in danger!" Lester replied as he swiveled his hip against mine.

"Yep. But he says that his love only comes with a condom, not a ring, so I can't go any farther down that road to ruin."

"He said that?" he said as he looked shocked.

"Yep."

He muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like "fucking idiot" but I couldn't be entirely sure. I agreed with the sentiment if nothing else.

"So what kind of relationship are you looking for, Beautiful?" he asked after a minute of silence.

"You know, just that we're a couple. That we won't see other people, see each other when possible, go out on dates, tell other people we're dating. Just the normal stuff," I said.

Lester looked thoughtful for a moment before he spun me out in a twirl before pulling me tightly against his chest. "Are you doing this to make him jealous?" he asked.

"Nope, I really am looking to meet someone new. The jealously thing is just a nice perk," I said with a smile.

Lester gave me a big grin. "Then how about having dinner with me on Saturday?"

Now I was shocked. "You're probably the biggest playboy I know, Les. What makes you think I want to be another notch on your bedpost?"

"Oh Stephanie, I'm hurt!"

"Not yet, but keep pushing it and you might be!" I replied.

He started laughing. "I know I act like a playboy but I'm not nearly as bad as I seem. Some of the guys are actually way worse than me, I just joke about it more. But it's mostly just talk and jokes. But I really do think you're pretty cool and I would like to get to know you better, see if we could take a shot at it."

I eyed him suspiciously. "Are you for real?"

He smiled widely at me. "Absolutely."

"Why?" I questioned.

"You mean other than the fact that you're gorgeous?" I glared at him. "You're smart and funny and kind. You already know what I do for a living and it hasn't scared you yet. You'd understand if I had to work late because we got a tip on a skip. You won't freak out because I carry a gun pretty much all the time. You know we've all done some crazy shit but you don't look at us like we're broken or evil. So why wouldn't I want to go out with you?"

He seemed really sincere but I didn't know. I chewed on my lower lip as I tried to process everything Lester had just said. "Ranger always says that his life doesn't lend itself to relationships. That his enemies would come after his girlfriend if he had one."

Lester just rolled his eyes. He was surprisingly good at it. "That's a risk in our line of work, but probably a relatively small one. But you attract more crazies than anyone I've ever known so it might be more of a risk for your boyfriend!"

I stuck my tongue out at him and he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Wouldn't it be awkward since he's your boss? And I heard someone say he was cousin," I replied.

"Might be a little bit awkward but I'm willing to chance it. If he won't man up, then he can't really say much, can he? And yeah, we're related, but I can get my mom to call his mom if he gets too out of hand."

I had to laugh at the thought of Lester tattling on Ranger. It's not like Ranger's mom could ground him or anything.

Lester grinned at me. "Let's think about this. At best, we decide to start dating and all that, could end up with lots of little Lesters running around." I made a face at that and he grinned at me. "If nothing else, we get to know each other better, which would still be pretty cool. And it could also be enough to get Ranger to pull his head out of his ass before he loses you to the more manly and charming member of the family."

I rolled my eyes at the last part. I didn't think anything would get Ranger to accept a relationship. If being practically engaged to Joe didn't do it, I doubted that a date with his cousin would be that big of a catalyst.

"Doesn't mean I'm going to sleep with you," I said severely. He nodded and kept smiling. "You're really serious? You're not just playing me? You really would consider an actual, honest to God relationship?" He just kept nodding.

"I guess we could try a date and see," I finally said. He gave me a megawatt smile and I had to admit, the man was pretty damn hot. We planned our date, he'd pick me up on Saturday at seven o'clock. I didn't actually need his phone number, or vice versa, since we'd worked together before.

"Now don't you go telling any of the other guys about this. I want my shot first!" he said. "There would be a stampede if they knew that you weren't with Ranger."

I giggled. "Yeah, right."

Lester turned serious. "I'm probably not helping my chances here, Beautiful, but it's the truth. The guys love you and some of them are already a little in love with you. Like I said, it's hard to find a girl who doesn't think we're scary monsters because of what we do or what we have done."

Hmm, something to think about. A stampede of hot men in black. I just gave him a wicked grin and I tried to raise my eyebrows suggestively. I'm not sure how successful I was but at least it made Lester laugh.

"What are you going to tell Ranger?" I asked him.

"I'm not going to tell him who I'm seeing. I'm off work on Saturday night and it's none of his business who I spend my free time with," he said immediately.

"What if he asks?"

"I'm not going to lie to him but I'm not going to advertise it either. Like I said, if the other guys knew you weren't dating Ranger, there would probably be a line out the door to ask you out. But I found out first!" he said with a little leer.

I smacked him on the arm and laughed at him.

We chatted as we danced the rest of the evening. I started getting tired so I reluctantly told Lester that I needed to head home. I was actually having a great time with him and I was looking forward to our date. I told him this and he gave me another huge smile. He offered to drive me home but I told him that I had my car. So I waved goodbye to Connie and Lula and then he walked me to my car before giving me a big hug and a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"See you soon, Beautiful," he said as I was closing my car door.

I drove home in a happier mood. Getting asked out by a hot guy is always an ego boost.

I was humming a Bon Jovi song when I walked into my dark apartment. I put my purse down on the kitchen counter and flipped on the light. Then I shrieked when I saw Ranger sitting on my couch.

"Shit, Ranger! What are you doing here?" I yelled over the sound of my racing heart.

He just looked at him, his hands in his lap.

"Did you have a good time tonight?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yep."

"Any luck?"

"Yep."

He raised his eyebrow at me. I took that as a sign to continue. "Got a date for Saturday night already. Couple other numbers."

He just stared at me. "Well hell, Ranger, it's not like I'm the freaking hunchback of Notre Dame or anything!" I was starting to get pissed. Did he think I was so ugly I couldn't find a man?

"Give me his name and I'll run a background check on him," he said softly.

I just snorted at him. "Yeah right. Actually, there's no need. I already know him, he just didn't know I was on the market."

"Who is it, Stephanie?" he asked.

"None of your damn business, Ranger."

"Babe."

"If we decide to actually start dating, I'm sure you'll find out then. Until then, back off." I gave Rex a baby carrot and a grape. He darted out, shoved them into his cheek sand then dove back into his soup can home. Being a hamster mommy is pretty low maintenance.

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed now," I put up a hand as Ranger gave me a small smile. "And no, that wasn't an invitation. It was a subtle clue for you to leave now."

"Babe."

"Goodnight, Ranger. Sweet dreams," I said as I closed the bathroom door behind me. I washed my face, brushed my teeth and pulled my hair into a ponytail. After I finished applying toner and moisturizer, I walked out carrying my heels in my hands. I expected Ranger to be gone but he was leaning against my kitchen counter instead.

"Okay, guess I shouldn't be subtle at all. Please go away now. Lock the door behind you, for what that's worth," I said as I walked into my bedroom. I heard muted cursing in Spanish behind me and I had to stifle a giggle.

I grabbed a t-shirt from my drawer and pulled it over my head. I reached under the t-shirt and released the zipper on my dress and then unhooked my strapless bra. Then I reached down to pick up the clothes pooled at my feet and heard a slight groan. I threw them into the hamper and then crawled into bed, yanking the blankets to my neck. I wiggled around until I got comfortable and then I let out a contented sigh. I heard my front door open and close and then I did giggle out loud.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

When I got to the office the next day, Connie and Lula were both waiting on me. "Spill it, girl," Lula said as soon as I walked in the door. "Was that Lester you were dancing with all last night?"

I smiled and sank down onto the chair. "Yep."

"And," Connie prodded.

"And he's a nice guy and I enjoyed dancing with him. That's it," I said.

"He vanished when you did," Connie replied suspiciously.

"He walked me to my car and then I left. I guess he left then too."

"So what's going on then?" Lula asked.

"Nothing's going on. Just had a nice time with a good-looking guy. Probably not a good idea to tell Ranger about since they work together, though," I cautioned them. I knew that if I told them I had a date with him on Saturday that it would be all over the 'Burg by dinnertime. "So what about you two? You seemed to have a couple of interested guys yourselves," I said to move on to another subject.

We chatted for a while and then I asked Connie if she had any skips for me. She handed over three files and I started flipping though them. Mooner and Dougie both missed their court date the day before, they would be easy, even though I had weeks before they had to be back in the system. I'd gone to high school with both of them, and I might have to watch TV with them for a while before they'd let me take them in.

I'd just finished signing the paperwork for Connie when I heard the door open and both girls went completely still. That could only mean that Ranger was in the building.

I felt his hand settle on my neck as he spoke. "Babe."

I looked up at him and gave him a slight smile. "Ranger."

Then I looked back at Connie. "Thanks for these. I'm going to get started working on them." I stood up and put the files in my purse and headed for the door. "Hey Cal," I said as I walked out. Cal held the door open for me with a smile and I smiled my thanks.

I climbed into my POS and headed to Mooner and Dougie's house. If I stopped by McDonald's for breakfast, I felt pretty sure I could get both of them to come with me. I swung through the drive thru and then headed towards their house. They shared a house, so it was often very convenient to pick them up when they went FTA. Honestly, I was surprised that they got bonded out so easily. I'd probably picked them up a dozen times or more, yet they kept getting arrested, bailed out and then forgot their court dates.

I knocked on the door and Mooner opened it around three minutes later. "Dudette!" he exclaimed when he saw me. Then he saw the bags in my hands. "Whoa, dude, I was just thinking about a McMuffin. It's, like, cosmic or something."

"You forgot your court date, Mooner. I need to take you and Dougie in to get rebonded." He reached for the bag and smiled.

"Sure, dudette, I'll go with you after we finish this awesome breakfast. I gotta be back by one for the Gilligan's Island marathon though," Mooner replied as he stuffed his face with a hashbrown.

"Where's Dougie?" I asked.

"Gone, dude. He's not been home in, like, days, man."

"Do you know where he's staying?" I asked.

"All his stuff's here. He left some primo stash if you want any."

I have to get Mooner to focus. This is really not an easy task. Mooner has been smoking the hash since probably middle school, so I feel pretty sure that his brain looks like my shower loofah now. It's not easy to get him to focus on anything. That's why you need food to distract him. "You haven't heard from him or seen him in days?"

Mooner just nodded at me and kept eating.

"Is that usual for Dougie?" I asked.

Mooner's eyes got really wide for a moment while he apparently thought about my question. "No way. He's usually, like, here. You know?"

No, I didn't know, but it's hard to convince Mooner of pretty much anything these days.

We finished our breakfasts and then I searched Mooner for any illegal contraband. I put a bong, three joints and two lighters onto the kitchen table. "That's harsh, dudette," he said. I didn't want him getting more charges.

I called Connie and told her to meet us at the courthouse and then I walked with Mooner to my car. I asked more questions about Dougie while driving, but all Mooner could remember was seeing him on last on Monday. He remembers because he watched Monday night wrestling with Dougie. Who am I to judge? Sometimes I remember the days of the week by the TV schedule too.

I checked in Mooner, got my receipt and then waited the ten minutes while Connie rebonded him. Then I drove him back home and asked if I could look around the house for anything about Dougie. Mooner was ready for the Gilligan's Island marathon and he didn't care what I did as long as I didn't block his view of the TV. Worked for me.

I snooped around the house but I didn't find any notes or such from Dougie. Both guys were complete slobs so it was hard to tell if anything was missing. It didn't look like it, but then again, I had no idea what it would look like if any of his stuff was gone. Dougie was the slightly more responsible member of the duo so I thought it was somewhat out of character for him to just vanish like that.

I waited for a commercial before asking Mooner. "Has Dougie ever gone away like this before?"

"Don't think so, dudette. But we're only been roomies for, like, a year or two. So I don't know about before that," Mooner replied.

I mentally rolled my eyes. "But since you've been roommates, he's never just left for a couple of days without telling you?"

Mooner thought for a moment. "Don't think so."

"Would you remember if he told you he was going out of town or something?"

Mooner got up and ambled to the refrigerator. I so did not want to look in it. Ugh. I'm sure it was a high school biology experiment gone bad. Very bad. "There's no note," he said as he looked at the blank front of the fridge.

"Do you always leave notes when one of you will be gone?"

He nodded vigorously. I'm almost positive I heard rattling in his brain. "Do you think he's in trouble, dudette?" he asked.

"Probably not. Can I leave him a note to call me when he gets back?" Mooner nodded so I pulled out a business card and wrote "CALL ME!" in all caps on it. Then I stuck it under the lone magnet on the fridge door.

"Alright, just tell him to call me when you see him, okay?"

Mooner nodded and followed me to the front door. "You wanna stay and watch the Skipper?" I politely declined.

"Live long and prosper," he called out as I climbed in my car. I looked up to see him flashing me the Vulcan hand V thing. I gave him a thumb's up and drove away.

I called Dougie's mom, but she hadn't seen or spoken to him in days either. She said that wasn't unusual and that he was probably at home. I thanked her for her help and hung up. My Spidey senses were tingling slightly but not enough to make me worry yet. Hopefully he'd be back in a day or two and I could get him rebonded then.

I went by the bond's office to drop off my receipt for Mooner. Connie wrote me my check and handed it over. It would put me closer to make my rent for the month, thank God. I just needed to bring in Dougie to pay the rent. I really needed more people to miss their court dates.

I deposited the check at the bank and then went home. I sprawled out on the couch watching a Ranger's game and trying to avoid thinking about Ranger's jealous reaction when I told him I had a date. He might be jealous, I reasoned, but that didn't mean anything would change. He'd been very firm about this whole no strings, no relationships deal. And it just wasn't something I could do. We'd spent one magnificent night together as the result of an idiotic deal, and it had nearly broken my heart when he told me to fix things with Joe the next morning. And my heart hadn't nearly been as involved then as it was now. I didn't think I'd survive being rejected twice.

I watched the game and then puttered around my apartment until it was bedtime. I did my usual routine and then tucked myself into bed.

The next morning, I drove to the office like normal. Lula was there but Connie was gone. Lula said she'd been called to bond someone out since Vinnie had taken his lunch early to have a nooner with a goat. We both laughed at the goat joke, but it wasn't too far from the truth. There were rumors that he had an inappropriate relationship with a duck. That was actually the threat I used when I had to blackmail him into giving me the job a couple of years ago. It just made me worry about whether we needed to bleach my gene pool since he was my cousin.

I was stretched out on the couch, only resting my eyes of course, waiting for Connie to get back when I heard the door open. I opened my eyes after a few seconds of silence to peer into a pair of green eyes right in front of my face. I shrieked and shoved at the face hovering in front of me. I was rewarded with laughter so I sat up and glared at Lester.

"Not cute!" I said as I sat up with a huff.

Lester just gave me a big grin. "Sleeping on the job, Beautiful?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Just waiting on Connie to get back."

Lester stood up with a smile. "Make sure you get some rest," he said with a wink that only I could see. I rolled my eyes at him and he laughed.

Bobby was behind him and he handed a couple of body receipts to Lula. "Can you make sure Connie sends the checks to RangeMan?" he asked Lula.

"Sure thing, sweet thang," she replied to Bobby. He smiled and then both Bobby and Lester walked out the door and got into their SUV.

"Mm mmm but those boys are fine," Lula exclaimed. I looked over at her. She had been dating Tank for a while, but they broke up when he got several cats and Lula found out she was allergic.

"What about Tank?" I asked her.

She waved a hand at me. "Ain't gonna be nothing long as he got those cats."

"I thought you were going to get allergy shots," I said.

"Huh. Them things are expensive. Don't know if I should spend that kind of money on any man."

I couldn't argue with her there. I'm not sure I'd spend a ton of money for a guy either. Guess it would depend on the guy and the reason.

I waited for a while but Connie still wasn't back. I got tired of waiting and told Lula to have Connie call me when she was back in the office. So I headed out to my POS. I headed back to my apartment and decided it was as good a time as any to clean it up.

I had my apartment pretty well clean by the time exhaustion set in around eleven. Cleaning really takes it out of you! I was sooo tired, almost to the point of not being able to make it to the bedroom when it hit me. I dragged myself into the bedroom and simply dropped the sweat pants I had been wearing. The shirt I was wearing as I cleaned would have to do.

When I woke up the next day, it was already almost noon. Holy crap, I'd slept for thirteen hours! Now don't get me wrong, I like sleep more than the average person but thirteen hours just seemed excessive. I felt okay though so I figured I was just tired from cleaning. Probably I shouldn't let it get so bad next time.

I got up and did the bathroom thing before heading into the kitchen to scope out something for lunch. I found a Tasty Pastry bag sitting on my countertop. The bag had only one word written on it: Babe.

So Ranger had come by at some point and I hadn't even woken up. I tried to ignore the tingle I got when I thought of the various ways he could have woken me up. Perhaps it was time for a very cold shower, considering I had a date with his cousin in only five hours.

I ate both of the Boston crème donuts. I went to put on some jeans, but unfortunately, I had a harder time than usual buttoning my jeans so I just groaned in frustration instead. I stood there indecisive for a moment before resolutely marching over to the dresser. I pulled out my running clothes instead and got myself dressed as fast as possible before I could change my mind.

Unlike Ranger, running is not a daily activity for me. Running is something you only do when being chased, when you're chasing someone or when your pants don't fit. Unfortunately, all three of those happen more regularly than I'd like.

I pulled my hair into a ponytail before grabbing a bottle of water, my iPod and my keys. I set my iPod to play from the workout playlist that I'd made one day a while back. I'm pretty sure I spend more time making the workout playlist than I had actually working out with it so far. I had a little AC/DC going as I started my jog. Thirty minutes later, I felt like I was about to die. I felt sure that my lungs would just fall out of my chest at any moment. I was sweaty and shaky and confident that I'd lost at least five pounds of sweat.

I hauled myself into the elevator, no way I was taking the stairs. I let myself into my apartment and then collapsed onto the couch. Ten minutes later, I could finally breathe normally so I finished off my bottle of water before heading into the bathroom. I ran myself a nice warm bath and tossed a handful of bath salts into the water to soothe my poor muscles. I promised I wouldn't put them through that again anytime soon as I slid into the waiting water.

I had gotten myself all prettified at a few minutes until seven. At seven exactly, I heard the shave and a haircut knock on my door. I opened the door and smiled at a smoking hot Lester Santos.

"Hey, Beautiful, you look beautiful," he said as he took in my red silk wrap shirt, black swirly skirt and red FMPs.

"You look very nice, too," I replied. And he did. Unlike certainly people who shall not be named, he actually wore colors other than black. He did have on black slacks, but he also had a green-stripped dress shirt with no tie.

"We look like Christmas!" I exclaimed as I took in his outfit. He just grinned at me and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. Then he handed me the single long-stem red rose that he held in his hand. I smiled at him and lifted it so I could sniff it. "It's beautiful, thank you," I told him and he gave me a wink.

"Are you ready to go, lady in red?" he asked. I nodded and walked back to the kitchen to give Rex a tap goodbye on his glass aquarium cage. I grabbed my little black purse and returned to the door. Lester gestured for me to walk ahead of him and then he pulled my door shut behind me. I locked the deadbolt and then he escorted me gallantly to the elevator. Smart man, he knew I wouldn't take the stairs in these killer heels. Who am I kidding, I try not to take the stairs at all.

He helped me get settled into his car and I think I moaned a little when I saw it. It was one of the new Ford Mustang convertibles and it was candy apple red. It was a seriously hot car and Lester had a seriously big smile at my reaction.

We chatted as we drove out of Trenton and into Philadelphia. Lester had told me that unless we were ready to tell people we were seeing each other, it might be better if we tried to avoid common hangouts in the burg and Trenton. I totally agreed. If anyone from the burg saw me out with Lester, it would be all over town in no time flat.

We got to the restaurant and had a lovely meal at a Latin restaurant. The menu was mostly in Spanish and Lester tried to help me learn enough to order.

"So you already know some of the basics, like taco, enchilada, that sort of stuff, right?" he'd asked.

"Yeah, if it's on the menu at Taco Bell, I probably know it. But I don't know how to order in Spanish or anything!" I replied.

"The most basic way to order would be to say yo quiero, which is I want, and then name what you want. You can end with por favor, which means please. So it would be yo quiero un enchilada de pollo por favor to order a chicken enchilada," he gently instructed.

"So it's yo quiero whatever I want por favor."

"Yes. Muy bien. Very good," he replied with approval.

Our waiter came up and he and Lester had a very fast conversation in Spanish. I could make out the word restaurante and vino but that was about it. After they finished, they looked at me and Lester asked if I was ready to order yet. I gave them a nervous smile and said, "yo quiero la enchilada suprema por favor."

Lester gave me a big smile and the waiter grinned. Then he turned to Lester and Les ordered his dinner as well. The waiter left with a smile and I turned to Lester. "Did I say it right or do I want to know what I just said I was going to eat?"

Lester laughed and then took my hands. "Steph, you did great! You seem to get the pronunciation pretty well especially since you've never taken a Spanish class before."

I shrugged. "I grew up hearing and speaking some Italian and the two languages are related. Guess it's my Italian genes coming out."

"Yeah, they are both romance languages. Once you know one of them, you can usually at least understand the basics of the other," he said.

"Now you're talking. Italian's the language of romance," I said with a smile. He just rolled his eyes at me and I grinned. "You're turning into a good burg girl with those eye rolls, Les!"

We had a lovely dinner and Lester taught me more Spanish. I had actually ordered the meal I'd wanted so I was happy. Les had picked a nice wine and I was feeling nice and warm after two glasses of it. We danced a while and Lester taught me how to salsa dance. Did I mention that he had moves? He does, in spades. I'd gotten it down pretty good before I started yawning.

Lester at first pretended to be mad at me. "Am I boring you, Beautiful?" he asked me with a pout.

I just laughed at him. "No, but I'm just a little tired. I went jogging this afternoon!" I exclaimed.

He looked at me in shock before grinning. "Jeans wouldn't snap?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Not as easily as I would like," I admitted. We finished the dance and then returned to our table for dessert. I order the tres leche cake and it was out of this world amazing. Lester was wiggling uncomfortably in his seat after listening to me moan and groan over it and I was giggling at his reaction.

We drove home and he walked me to my apartment door. He held out his hand for my key and I just rolled my eyes. I don't know why he bothered, it's not like he couldn't unlock the door within a few seconds even without the key. He walked in and cleared the room before allowing me to step out of the hall.

We cuddled on the couch watching a movie for a little while before I fell asleep on his shoulder. I woke up to him picking me up and carrying me into my bedroom. I sat up and looked at him in confusion. "What's going on?"

"You fell asleep. I thought I'd at least get you into the right room before I left," he told me as he sat down on the side of the bed.

"Oh. Sorry. Take it as a compliment that I trust you so much," I said with a sleepy smile. He just smiled and leaned forward to kiss me very softly on the lips. I smiled and kissed him back. He winked at me and then stood up and walked out.

"Flip on the light, please. I need to get undressed," I told him. No way I was sleeping in my clothes.

"Oh, geez, Beautiful! Now I'm going to have a hard on the whole way home," he sighed.

"As long as you remember to grab the right gearshift, you should be fine," I giggled.

"Christ!" he said through his laughter as he locked the door behind him.

_**Author's note: **__Wow, thanks for all the feedback so far. It's great! I love getting the email that I have a new review. So please leave more reviews!_

_Hope everyone has a great weekend!_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's note: **__Since the feedback has been so amazing (wow, thanks!) and the last chapter was on the short side (as is this one), I decided to go ahead and post chapter 3. I hope you enjoy!_

_Thanks to Cokkii for catching a stupid English/ Spanish translation mistake on my part. Guess I should be more careful writing at 1 am! I've fixed the error now, but thanks for pointing it out._

_Please let me know what you think! I love getting reviews. Seriously._

_**Chapter 3**_

The next morning, I pulled on a pair of happy face boxers and then dragged myself into the kitchen to start the coffee. I found a salsa CD sitting on top of my coffee maker and I went and put it in my CD player as the nectar of the gods was brewing. I was dancing around, trying to remember all the steps to the dance, when I felt a tingle on my neck just before strong hands grabbed me and spun me out into a twirl. I danced back into Ranger's embrace and we continued to salsa until the song ended. Ranger definitely has moves too. Must be a family trait.

I looked up and he was smiling down at me. "I didn't know you could salsa, Babe."

"I couldn't until last night," I replied and his smile was replaced by his blank look. I pulled away and salsa danced my way over to the coffee pot. "Coffee?" I asked and he nodded.

I poured him a cup, black of course, and then I added cream and sugar to my cup of coffee. I walked over and flopped down on the couch with a happy sigh and Ranger sat down beside me. He didn't say anything so I didn't either, I just kept sipping at my coffee with a smile on my face.

"So you went salsa dancing last night?" he finally asked.

"Yep. And learned a little bit of Spanish, too!" I said. I was proud of my limited Spanish knowledge.

"Really?" Ranger smiled slightly at me.

"Si," I replied with a smile.

"What did you learn?" he asked.

"Food stuff mostly," I replied.

"Why did you want to learn Spanish?"

"Well, he's Latin so he speaks Spanish. Plus we were at a Latin American restaurant and I wanted to know what I was eating before it showed up in front of me. He said I did pretty good for a beginner, but it's probably because I used to know Italian and they're so similar."

"You're dating another Latin guy now?" Hmm, was that jealously in his voice?

"It's just been the one date so far," I replied. "And he's the only Latin guy I'm seeing at the moment." He looked faintly pissed. Oh well, that's his problem.

"You going to go out with him again?" he asked in a tense tone.

"I don't know, dad," I replied with a smirk. "I fell asleep before we could talk about that." Now he looked really pissed.

"You slept with him?" he practically roared at me.

I blinked innocently at him. "Technically, yes. He wore me out." The more I spoke, the more pissed he looked. I rolled my eyes at him. "Give it a rest, Ranger. We danced a lot and I was tired. So I fell asleep on the couch while we were watching TV."

He looked slightly less pissed but still very unhappy. "Chill out. I don't ask you about your sex life." His eyes narrowed slightly and he started to open his mouth. "Because I don't want to know about your sex life! Keep it to yourself!" I said to preempt him. I so could not handle hearing about his sex life.

I yawned again and shook my head slightly, blinking owlishly up at Ranger. "Hey, why did you come by?" I asked.

"Just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine. Just still sleepy. I might need to take a little nap," I said with a small smile.

"Babe, you just got up."

"And your point is?"

"Babe."

"Ranger. It's Sunday. Even God had to take a day off to rest," I replied.

He just shook his head. "Who's the Latin guy, Babe?"

I rolled my eyes at him again and stood up. "I'll give you a hint. It's not Antonio Banderas," I said with a smile as I rinsed my coffee cup and put it in the sink.

Ranger continued to sit on the couch so I shrugged and walked by him, heading into the bedroom. I crawled back into bed and snuggled up to my pillow.

"Are you really going back to sleep?"

"That's the plan, Batman."

"Babe."

"Ranger."

I was really working his last nerve. Good. "Either go away or take a nap too. I'm sleepy," I told him.

He sighed again. Heh. Then I felt him sit down on the edge of the bed and I had to work to keep my breathing slow and steady.

"Can't, Babe. Things to do," he said as he kissed my forehead.

"Maybe next time. Go catch some bad guys," I told him with a smile. That got me the almost smile and then he was gone. I had my own bad guys to catch but I was too tired.

I napped for a while and then got up in search of food when my stomach started growling at me. I found a pack of Poptarts and ripped off the shiny foil and started munching. I dropped a corner in Rex's cage and he scurried out to retrieve it. He twitched his whiskers at me and then rushed back into his soup can.

I was still tired after I woke up the second time so I decided to just hang around my apartment and make some phone calls. I called Mooner first to see if Dougie was back yet.

"Whassup?" Mooner answered the phone.

"Hi Mooner, it's Stephanie."

"Dudette!"

"Just wanted to see if Dougie had come back yet," I told him.

I could hear him scratching his head. "Nope, not yet. Kinda freaking me out a little now, dudette. He's, like, a ghost."

"What do you mean by ghost? Like he's a dead spirit ghost?" Had Dougie died in the bathtub and Mooner buried him in the backyard?

"No, like a can't be seen by mere mortals ghost." Ah. Okay that made no sense, but this was Mooner we were talking about here. You don't expect him to make sense.

"Has Dougie been dealing again?" I asked. A while ago, Dougie was dealing in a little bit of everything. Jeans, toasters, Metamucil to the seniors, whatever happened to fall off a truck. He'd been busted and had a giant liquidation sale but I hadn't heard anything more about his special sales yet.

"No way, dudette."

"So what has Dougie been doing?" I asked. Come to think of it, what the heck did Mooner do to make money to support his organic agriculture (his words, not mine) habit? Hmm, something to think about.

"That's a good question. Don't know." was Mooner's reply.

"Does he have any other friends that he might be staying with?" I asked.

"He's not the most friendly guy. Can't think of any."

"Okay, call me if you hear from him or think of anything, okay?"

"Sure."

After Mooner's agreement, I hung up the phone and assumed my thinking position on the bed. This wasn't normal behavior for Dougie, not that he was really what anyone would call normal. But something seemed off somehow.

So I picked up the phone again and hit speed dial one. "Yo," Ranger answered.

"Hey," I said. "Would it be okay if I stopped by RangeMan to run a search?"

"Fine," Ranger replied. "Looking for a skip?"

"Yeah, but it's Dougie. He's been gone for days and Mooner has no idea where he is."

"Babe, Mooner probably doesn't remember his own name." He's such a comedian.

"Hardy har har. I know, but something feels off about this," I told him.

"Spidey senses tingling?" he asked and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yep."

"You know how to get here. Stop by whenever," he said.

"Thanks, see you soon," I replied.

"Babe," and then he was gone.

An hour later, I'd tamed the hair and gotten cleaned up. I was wearing jeans and a stretchy red t-shirt that made the most of my limited assets. I wiggled my fingers in a wave at the security camera in the corner of the elevator and hit the button for five. I stepped off and smiled at the heads that popped up over the walls of the cubicles.

Several guys said hello and I stopped by to chat briefly with them. Lester's office was empty. I loved all of these guys, but Lester's warnings the other night about how there would be a stampede made me a pay a little bit closer attention to how they interacted with me. I couldn't see any difference from normal so I just mentally shrugged. Guess Lester was wrong.

I popped my head into Ranger's office but he wasn't there. Oh well. I knocked on Tank's door and walked in when I heard him call out.

Ranger was sitting on the sofa with his hands behind his head and his legs stretched out in front of him. "Hey, guys," I said with a smile as I leaned against the door jam. "I just wanted to see what computer you wanted me to use to run my search," I said to Ranger.

"You can use your old one, it's vacant," Ranger said.

I furrowed my brow. "I thought you got a new guy to run the searches."

Tank answered. "We did, but he didn't work out. Didn't have your Spidey senses." I smirked. "So if you ever decide you want to come back, just let us know," Tank continued.

I thought about it for a minute. Rent was due awfully soon and I was still short. Ranger must have used his ESP because he sat up. "You can come back full or part time," he said.

"Maybe part-time. Not too many people in my range skipping court right now," I admitted.

"Babe, why didn't you say anything?" Ranger asked.

"Need to know, isn't that the phrase you guys use? Well, you didn't need to know, so you didn't know," I quipped.

Tank grinned slightly but Ranger just glowered at me. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Babe," he said.

"Ranger." I replied. I could do those one-word sentences too.

Tank smiled and I walked over and hugged him. "Thanks for the offer, big guy. I'll start tomorrow if that's cool with you."

He nodded and I kissed the top of his shiny head. I stood up and started walking towards the door when Ranger caught my hand. I turned slightly to look at him. "Don't I get a hug and kiss too?" he asked with a slightly feral smile.

"Nope," I said with an evil grin. I turned back and winked at Tank, who looked like he was about to laugh. "He asked first." I pulled my hand away from Ranger and used it to blow Tank a kiss. Then I sauntered out to the sound of Tank's booming laugh. Geez, I don't think I'd ever heard him laugh before.

I'd run my search on Dougie but I didn't turn up anything particularly interesting. I printed the results to read again later when I wasn't feeling quite so tired and lethargic. I put all of the papers into a folder and then shoved them in my purse before standing up and stretching. I'd been there over two hours and I was more than ready to move around a little bit.

I waved goodbye to the guys and was walking towards the elevator when Binkie popped out to say goodbye. "Aww, man Bomber, you didn't even do anything fun for us to talk about!"

I grinned at him. "Sorry. Maybe next time!"

I drove home, already exhausted again. Hmm, perhaps I'm coming down with something. Maybe I should stop and buy some orange juice. OJ is good for you, right?

I stopped at the grocery store and bought a few supplies. My apartment usually has next to no food in it and I needed a little food if I was going to survive the cold or whatever was currently trying to bring me down. And if I went back to working even part-time for RangeMan, I could afford to buy food. I went back home, put up my groceries and drank about half of the orange juice. Then I took a shower and tucked myself into bed.

Several hours later, my cell phone woke me up. "'Lo?" I asked sleepily.

"Babe. We're you asleep? Again?" Ranger asked incredulously.

I yawned. "Yeah, not feeling so great, actually. I think I'm coming down with a cold."

"You need me to send over Bobby?"

"Nah, I drank some OJ and think I just need to sleep. Hopefully, I'll be better by morning. If I can't make it in, I'll let you or Tank know."

"Babe. Don't worry about work. Are you okay?"

"Throat's a little scratchy and I feel kind of achy and tired," I told him.

"Sounds like the flu," Ranger replied. "It's going around, several guys are out with it. Sure you don't want Bobby to check on you?"

"If you don't hear from me tomorrow, Bobby can drop off more OJ. But it's just a little cold or something, I'm sure. I'll be fine," I said as I yawned again.

"Don't worry about coming in tomorrow, just get some sleep," he said. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." Then he hung up before I could reply. Well, if he insists, fine, I won't drag myself out of bed at the crack of dawn then. Works for me.

The next time I woke up, Ranger was looming over me. I yelped and tried to scoot away but I was tangled up in blankets and unable to move. "What the?" I asked as I struggled unsuccessfully to sit up.

"Wait, Babe. You're all tangled up in the sheets. Let me get you loose first," he said, staring at the sheets and blankets wrapped about my extremities. After a moment's hesitation, he started tugging on a corner and eventually managed to free my left leg. As soon as he got my other leg free, I tried to push myself up against the headboard and promptly fell back down as a wave of dizziness washed over me.

"Babe?" he asked. Using my Ranger to English translation guide, I knew he was asking what was wrong with me.

"Got a little dizzy when I tried to sit up," I admitted. The world was still twirling around me and I really didn't appreciate the feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Ranger gently lifted me up so I was resting against the headboard and put his hand against my forehead. He pulled his hand back with a jerk. "You're running a pretty high fever," he told me, concern etched on his face. "Do you have a thermometer?"

I shook my head no and started coughing. These weren't the usual coughs you might have during allergy season. No, these were the hard, rasping coughs that felt like your lungs were tearing loose inside of you and might fly out of your mouth.

After a minute of coughing nonstop, I was breathless, dizzy and sore. Ranger pulled out his cell phone and had a very brief conversation, presumably with Bobby, RangeMan's medical guy. "Steph's sick too. Bring your bag. Now."

I tried to glare at him but honestly I was too tired so I just leaned back against the headboard. Now that he mentioned a fever, I did feel pretty icky and sweaty.

Ranger must have used his ESP to know this because he came back a minute later with a damp washcloth to bathe my face and neck. I'd argue but it felt too good as he wiped away my sweat with the cool, damp cloth.

I was dozing restlessly a little later when Bobby appeared in the doorway of my bedroom. He took one look at me and winced. "Looking a little rough there, Bomber," he said. I tried to glare at him but he didn't seem affected by my death glare.

He stuck a thermometer in my ear and it beeped after a few seconds. "Running a little high. What are your other symptoms?" he asked.

I opened my mouth to talk but started coughing again. After a few coughs, Bobby stuck a pillow in my arms and wrapped my arms around it. Then he pushed it tight against my stomach. Clutching the pillow helped some, the coughing didn't hurt quite as much.

"So obviously a cough. Anything else?" he asked.

"Scratchy throat," I managed to croak. "Headache. Tired."

"Body aches?" he asked. I nodded.

Bobby nodded. "Since your fever is 103 and you have the other classic symptoms, I'd say you have the flu."

"No," I wailed. "I can't be sick!"

Bobby grinned slightly. "You don't get a choice. Seems like everyone has it right now. You need lots of fluids and rest. I can prescribe some antivirals to help limit how sick you get but there is no magic cure for the flu," he explained.

I collapsed back into a heap. "I hate being sick," I grumped.

Bobby patted my hand sympathetically. "When was the last time you had something to drink?"

I shrugged. "I had a glass of OJ a couple of hours before I talked to Ranger. Why?"

Bobby looked at Ranger and Ranger's eyes were slightly wider than usual. "I called around ten last night. It's four now, so it's been at least eighteen hours."

"Steph, have you had to go to the bathroom since then?"

I shook my head no.

"Then you're dehydrated and we need to get some fluids in you right away." Bobby jumped up and raced away, coming back in a moment with a glass of orange juice and a bottle of water.

He handed me the juice and I sipped at it gingerly. It burned slightly against my raw throat. "Drink it all," Bobby ordered. "Then the whole bottle of water."

I glared but complied. After I finished the juice and the water, I was ready to go back to sleep but Ranger wouldn't let me.

"Babe, let me take you back to Haywood. Bobby and Ella can help take care of you on seven," he tried.

I felt him start to lift me up and I summoned a protest. "No. You'll get sick too. Just leave me here," was all I was able to say before I started coughing again.

"Babe," was Ranger's response.

He carried me by the kitchen and saw Rex's cage. "Rex!" I croaked and Ranger nodded at Bobby, who grabbed Rex's cage and followed us out the door. Ranger buckled me into his Turbo and I was asleep before he got around to the driver's side.

I have vague memories of being carried into the building and being tucked into Ranger's million thread count sheets, but I was too busy being miserable to care. I really, truly hate being sick!

Bobby forced me to eat some chicken soup and to drink another bottle of water before he let me go back to sleep. Evil tyrant. Sometime later, sooner than later, I think, he made me take a whole handful of pills. As long as he'd let me sleep, I didn't care what he gave me.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

I woke up partially several times over the next few days, usually coughing so hard that I felt like I was going to break a rib. I suspect they gave me medicine to keep me pretty drowsy and loopy. I didn't object. I'd rather not be awake when I'm that sick. Several times, I'd feel Ranger's hands on my back, trying to soothe my ragged coughs. He'd hold me up to take a dose of medicine or to drink a bottle of water. I remember Bobby and Ranger coaxing me to eat but I lost track of mealtimes. You know I'm sick when I forget to eat.

Finally, I woke up covered in sweat but feeling semi-coherent for the first time in a while. I looked over and saw Ranger lying next to me, one arm slung across my waist. He looked exhausted, with dark smudges under his eyes from fatigue. I tried to sit up as gently as I could to go to the bathroom, but I felt as weak as a newborn kitten. My movements must have disturbed Ranger because he immediately sat up in bed and reached out to me.

"Babe, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Bathroom," I croaked, my voice weak and rusty. Ranger just stood up and lifted me into his arms, carrying me into the bathroom. He sat me down on my trembling legs, one strong arm holding me up, and reached for my hips, presumable to lower my underwear. I pushed him away. "I can do it!"

I really don't want to think about what had happened while I was out of it with the flu. Denial is my friend.

He looked me in the eyes and finally noticed that I was mostly myself again. He gave me a sweet smile and a kiss on the forehead before walking out and closing the bathroom door behind him. I took care of business and was trying to wash my hands when he opened the door and looked at me.

I tried to move towards him but I felt my knees start to buckle. It was sheer stubbornness that kept me upright. Then Ranger grabbed me in his arms again and carried me back to the bedroom.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Like I've been hit by a truck," I replied.

"You've been pretty sick," Ranger admitted. "Good thing we had Bobby or I'd have taken you to the ER a couple of times."

"Was it that bad?" I asked him, aghast.

"You've been pretty well out of it for the last four days," Ranger replied and I felt my eyebrows shoot up my forehead.

"You were pretty sick," he said. "Do you think you could eat anything?"

I thought about it for a minute before nodding. "Something light, though," I cautioned him.

"Could you maybe sit up for a little while and let Ella change the sheets?" he asked and I nodded. I'd do my best.

He picked up his cell phone from the bedside table and dialed a number, presumably Ella. I'd just started drifting back off to sleep when Ranger picked me up and carried me into the living room. He sat me on the couch and tucked a blanket around me. Ella bustled around the kitchen for a moment before bringing a tray over to the coffee table. She had a large bowl of soup, a packet of crackers and a large glass of orange juice on the tray.

I had to hold the juice in both hands to keep it from trembling too much but I was able to drink most of it. Ella refilled it the second it hit the tray and Ranger helped me hold the bowl of soup so I didn't spill it all over myself. I was able to eat about half the bowl before I had to give up.

While Ranger was helping to feed me, Ella stripped and remade the bed. Ranger carried me into the bathroom and sat me on the counter. He stripped off my t-shirt, his of course, and gently and quickly wiped me down with a damp washcloth. Then he pulled a clean shirt over my head and tucked me into the freshly made bed. I was almost asleep but I heard Ella fussing at Ranger to come eat as well.

"Go eat, Ranger," I murmured before falling back asleep.

When I woke up the next time, a few hours later by my guess, I felt much better. I rolled over and took a minute to get my shaky legs to function normally. I went to the bathroom and took care of business and then I went in search of Ranger. I didn't find him in the apartment, so I assumed he was down on five working. I dropped a grape I pilfered from Ranger's fridge into Rex's cage and tapped on it to say hello. Rex rushed out, his whiskers twitching frantically, and I felt my heart warm. That was hamster for 'I missed you! Are you okay?'

I snagged the bag of grapes from the fridge because there wasn't anything else that looked yummy and was firmly ensconced on the sofa with my Ghostbusters DVD playing when Ranger returned to his apartment.

I got the full 200-watt smile when he saw me sitting there. Guess I had been pretty pathetically sick if seeing me on the couch was cause for celebration. My knees were a little weak, but I was perfectly fine attributing that to the flu rather than the brilliance of Ranger's smile.

"Hi," I said with my own smile.

"Hey Babe," Ranger replied. "Good to see you up and around."

I snorted. "I don't think sitting on your couch wrapped in your comforter counts as up and around, but whatever makes you happy."

He just continued to smile. I scooted over a little and patted the now open cushion next to me. He still looked pretty exhausted. He ambled over and sat down, threw his arm around my shoulder and pulled me against him. He rested his chin on the top of my head and pressed a kiss into my curls.

"Ick, Batman! I haven't washed my hair in God knows how long. I wouldn't be kissing that mess of a mop if I were you."

I felt rather than heard Ranger chuckle. "I'm too happy to see you up and mobile to care about messy hair, Babe."

"I'll get out of your hair soon, I promise," I said. "If one of your guys can drive me, maybe you can get some sleep. You look about as tired as I feel."

"I'm fine."

"Liar," I retorted. "No offense, Ranger, but you don't look so good."

Ranger looked like he thought about smiling, but maybe it would take too much energy. He really did look exhausted.

"Ohmigod," I exclaimed as the thought struck me, causing Ranger to jump slightly. "Are you getting my flu? I was really exhausted before I actually got sick."

I leaned back and stuck my hand to his forehead like my mom had done to me a thousand times. "You don't feel too warm."

Ranger just kept looking at me, his eyebrows slightly raised. He was shocked at my maternal side. Come to think of it, so was I.

"Want me to call Bobby? If you start his magic pills early, you won't be sick as long," I reminded him.

He still looked incredulous. "You may be a scary badass, but germs aren't afraid of you. You can get sick too. I never get sick but this sneaky virus got me, so it might get you too."

"Babe." My dramatic eye roll was interrupted by a coughing fit. It wasn't nearly as bad as it had been before, but it did leave me breathless and clutching my stomach.

"See," I panted once the worst of the coughing had ended, "you don't want this, trust me."

Ranger sighed. Oh God, he must be sick!

"Babe, I'm already taking the antivirals, started them before you got here. But half of RangeMan has the new flu so those of us who aren't coughing our lungs out or delirious with fever are working a lot of overtime to keep things going. That's why I'm tired. I'm not getting sick."

"Uh huh. Sure. Whatever you say. Well, I'm feeling much better today than I have been, so what can I do to help? Searches? Paperwork? Monitors?" I asked.

"You're still recovering."

"Ranger, right now I'm probably feeling better than you are. Cause you look like shit. I probably do too, since I haven't showered in God knows how long, but I actually don't feel too terrible. Pretty tired and I'm still coughing some, but I'm well enough to sit at a computer or a monitor. And if you're that shorthanded, you really can't afford to look a gift horse in the mouth, can you?" I retorted. "Plus I owe you for taking care of me."

He sighed again. Crap, things must be really bad if Ranger is sighing. Twice.

A curt nod. Guess that's all the response I'm going to get.

"Okay, so here's the plan, Batman," I started and noticed Ranger's lips twitching. "I'm going to go get a shower. You're going to eat something cardboard-like and disgusting, but that's your choice. I don't judge. Well, much. Then I'm going to go downstairs and do whatever needs to get done while you and some of the other guys get some sleep. When I'm too tired to be effective anymore, you can take over."

"Babe."

"Ranger."

He sighed again. I'm pretty sure this is one of the signs of the apocalypse. I'll have to keep my eyes open for four horsemen wandering around Trenton.

"So go eat, mister, while I'm in the shower. Then you tuck yourself right into bed or I'll make you."

"How will you make me, Babe?" he said, amused despite his obvious fatigue.

"I'll call your mother and tell her you're sick but you won't rest." He blanched, his normally mocha latte skin turning slightly grey. Score one for me.

"Babe."

"You've said it yourself, I'm good at finding people. Not so much at the taking them down part, but I don't think I'd have to tackle your mama, just tell her where to find you. So don't push me on this, I'm trying to take care of you like you've taken care of me. So just let me, okay? Or I call in the big guns."

"Fuck," he said.

"Not tonight, dear. I have a headache," I said as I rolled my eyes at him. "Go eat your twigs and bark," I said and I pushed myself up off of Ranger's comfy couch. I wobbled a little and Ranger's arm shot out to support me. "Thanks, stood up a little too quickly after sitting down or lying down for so long."

"You want me to get Bobby to check you again?" he asked, his worry evident in his bloodshot, but still beautiful, eyes.

I smiled at him. "I'm fine, just stood up too fast. Now go eat before I call _my_ mom and tell her you're hungry and there's nothing to eat here. She'll be here with a vat of gravy before you have time to get the building secured."

That actually seemed to horrify Ranger, well, judging from how quickly he leapt to his feet. Hmm, score two for me. I'm on a roll, yay!

I walked into Ranger's amazing bathroom and almost moaned aloud at the feeling of the hot water. I hadn't showered in days and I was feeling pretty icky. I had to wash my hair twice to get it truly squeaky clean. I guess four days of sweating will really wreak havoc on a hairdo.

When I finally emerged in Ranger's robe, I found him leaning against the headboard of the bed. He was still fully clothed, including his boots, and he was watching me.

I tsked. "Really? Boots on the bed? I'm sure your mother raised you better than that."

He smiled a little and I smiled back before sitting down next to his feet and unlacing his boots. I pulled them off and dropped them on the floor with a thud before peeling off his socks and starting to rub his feet. He jerked his legs back with a loud laugh before turning an evil glare on me.

I could feel a huge smile growing on my face. "Holy Gotham City, Batman's ticklish? I'll have to keep that in mind."

"Stephanie…" he said in warning. I just grinned and ran one fingertip very lightly against his foot. He jerked again and I grinned wider.

"I won't torture you if you'll take off all this stuff. You can't sleep comfortably in that."

"Babe, I've slept in far worse."

"Yeah, when you were off in a jungle or whatever doing things I can't know about if I want to live. You're not exactly in that situation now. You're lying on a cloud-like bed with million thread count sheets so clearly you like your comfort when you can get it. So strip it off," I said.

"Or else what? You'll do it for me?" he asked with a wolf grin on his face.

I shook my head at him and reached for his waistband. "If that's what it takes," I said as I pulled his t-shirt up. He looked pretty shocked, but the truth was that neither one of us was in any kind of shape for anything naughty.

Before he could completely recover from his shock, I unbuttoned his cargos. He automatically lifted his hips and I pulled them down and tossed them on the floor next to his other discarded clothes. It was just as I suspected, no undies. I pulled the blanket up and covered him, studiously avoiding looking at the interesting parts that would be on display.

"Babe!" he finally exclaimed.

I gave him my own version of a wolf grin. "You asked for it."

"Playing with fire, Babe."

"Oh I've already been burned enough to know to avoid this particular fire. I'm just trying to take care of you like you took care of me. Nothing more than that. Now you get some sleep and I'll call you when I need to come back upstairs," I told him. I tucked the blanket around him and leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. At the last second, he turned his face so I brushed a kiss against his lips. I pulled back in surprise and he grinned at me.

"I could probably find enough energy if you wanted to stay," he said with a distinct leer.

"Mothers, Ranger. I will call in both of our mothers. And my grandmother will probably come with my mother, and you're too exhausted to put up much of a fight. So are you sure you want to antagonize me right now?"

That shut him up. I stood up with a wink and then walked into his walk-in closet in search of clothes. I found an old uniform from when I'd stayed here before and carried it with me into Ranger's bathroom. It fit pretty loosely but I guess that's what not eating for days will do. Good thing I was feeling better or I'd wither away.

When I reemerged in the bedroom, Ranger was already asleep. I tiptoed into the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of water to leave by the bed. I tried to be as stealthy as possible when I went back into the bedroom, but Ranger's voice stopped me just as I was about to set the bottle down.

"Babe?" he asked, his voice already rough with sleep. I fought an involuntary shiver. I may be tired, but I'm not dead!

"Just leaving you a bottle of water in case you get thirsty," I whispered.

"Thanks, Babe," he said with a sexy, sleepy smile as he tried to pull me down next to him.

"Sorry, Ranger, but duty calls. Sleep well," I said as I grabbed my boots and hightailed it out of the bedroom and away from temptation. I could hear him grumbling but I couldn't make out the words. That was probably a good thing.

I grabbed a bottle of water and stuffed Ranger's keys, which were on the console table in the hallway, into my pocket so I could come back up later. I closed the door behind me and stepped into the elevator.

When I got down to five, I wasn't terribly surprised to see the place mostly deserted. I wandered into Tank's office and found him sitting there with a bottle of gross-looking green cough syrup in his hand. He would type for a minute and then take a little sip. I watched him repeat the process a few times before I knocked on the door.

He frowned before looking up. "Bombshell, glad to see you feeling better."

"You look like how I felt a couple of days ago."

"Shit."

"Yep," I replied.

"So what can I do?" I asked.

"Where's Ranger?" Tank asked me.

"Upstairs sleeping. I blackmailed him into sleeping for a few hours. I'm actually feeling relatively decent at the moment. Not up for a marathon, not that I ever was, but I can run searches or watch monitors or do whatever needs to be done so you guys can get a little rest too."

"How the hell did you make him go to sleep?" Tank sounded a little bit in awe of me.

"I threatened him."

"With what?"

"A fate worse than death. His mother, my mother and my grandmother here to take care of him."

"Holy shit! That is a fate worse than death! No offense, but your granny is scary. And his mom would probably drown him in chicken soup."

"Exactly. So tell me what I can do and then it's your turn to get some sleep or I'll call your mom."

"Bombshell, you wouldn't!"

"Tank, I have access to search programs that can tell me about your last colonoscopy. Do you really think I couldn't find your mom's phone number if I just tried?"

"Fuck," Tank muttered.

"That's what he said. But he caved so I know you will too. There are few things scarier when you're sick than your mother. So please, just skip the arguments and tell me what needs to be done."

"Shit. Okay, fine, you win. I'm trying to enter the payroll report into the system for our accounting firm. Sick or not, every man will want his paycheck come payday. If you could finish this for me, that would be great. That pile," he nodded as an overflowing inbox, "is full of search requests. You can start on those if you want to. If you're still here later, you can relieve the guys on monitors so they can get some food."

"Aye aye, captain," I said with a snappy salute.

"Smartass."

"You know you love me."

"You're confused. I'm not Ranger."

"I know. But you love me because I'm the person who's going to do your work while you get some sleep."

"Fine, whatever."

"Go eat something and then go straight to bed," I told him with a smile as I started to tug his rolling chair towards the door.

He started to argue. "You look exhausted and I know you feel worse. So please, pretty please, just get some rest."

He stood up and nodded at me. "Thanks, Bombshell."

"No problem, big guy. You okay to get to your apartment by yourself or you want me to walk with you?"

He shot me a look that I interpreted as general outrage at the thought that he couldn't walk unaided to his apartment. As long as he'd go, I don't care how he gets there. Of course, it was true that he'd probably squish me like a bug if he got dizzy and couldn't stand up straight, but I'd do my best to at least cushion his fall.

Once I sent Tank away and quickly finished the payroll entry, I went around and checked on the other guys. Bobby looked like death warmed over, Cal was so flushed that you could barely see the flames of his flaming skull tattoo on his forehead and Woody was chugging Red Bull like he hadn't had anything to drink in days.

"Damn, guys," I said in shock. "You okay?"

Bobby turned bleary eyes towards me and blinked a few times. "Bomber? Oh fuck, now I'm hallucinating."

I had to laugh. "No, Bobby, it's really me and I'm really here. I made Tank and Ranger go get some sleep, and you guys will get your turn as soon as possible. I'll take over the front desk duties, you go get something to eat. Then I'll take monitor duty so Cal and Woody can eat, too."

Bobby looked at me for a minute, the gears in his mind obviously turning slowly. "Who died and made you boss?" he finally asked.

"No one died, but I'm the only one here who seems to have had any sleep, so I'm boss by default. Now go eat," I replied.

They just looked at me in a stupor for a moment so I tried again.

"Just get some food and maybe a quick cat nap, maybe it'll help you feel slightly less hung over," I said.

Bobby finally nodded and stood up. I gave him a quick hug as he walked by. "Thanks for taking care of me. Now let me take care of you." He nodded again and walked off.

I raced off and snagged Ranger's laptop from his office. Well, I did have his keys, after all, so it was only entering, not breaking and entering. I powered up his computers and started working on the pile of searches that Tank had left. The phone rang a few times and I mostly just took messages and promised to have someone call them back as soon as possible.

I was on the phone with a cranky client when Bobby wandered back. "You look slightly less dead now. Feeling any better?" I asked.

"A little. What was that?" he replied.

"A prospective client who got a little bit cranky that no one could come and meet with him today. I explained and he's fine now, so no worries," I reassured Bobby.

Bobby took his seat again so I grabbed the laptop and walked over to Cal and Woody. "Alright boys, your turn. Go eat and rest a little bit, I've got the monitors."

"There's usually two on monitors at all times," Woody explained, practically vibrating from all the Red Bull.

"Wow, man, you gotta cut back on the Red Bulls or you're gonna vibrate yourself right out of existence. And anyways, Bobby is right there if I need anything. But right now, one me is probably than the two of you for a little bit since you're so exhausted. So just chill a little bit, I got it," I told them.

Woody jumped up and raced away but Cal took a couple of moments to get out of his chair. "Thanks for this, Angel," he said as he ruffled my curls as he walked away. I enjoyed the view for a moment before flopping down in Woody's just vacated chair. After almost an hour of ass numbing time spent staring at flickering monitors, I was ready to shoot myself. Or the monitors. It was a toss up. Thankfully, Woody and Cal came back then and looked more alert.

I went back into Bobby's office. "I got the phones, go get a little more rest," I told him.

"One of the leadership team needs to be on the floor," he told me.

"So go sleep on Ranger's couch in his office. You'll be on the floor but you'll be getting some rest." He considered it for a minute.

"He'll probably kill me for it but I'm too tired to care. It's been a long ass week. Call me if you need me."

I resumed working on the searches and answering the phone. My head was pounding after a while, so I dug around in Bobby's drawers until I found a bottle of ibuprofen. I swallowed several of the little orange-brown pills and prayed they would kick in soon.

It was a big stretch, but I made it about six hours total before I was about to pass out under Bobby's desk. I'd relieved Woody and Cal multiple times to allow them to walk around, eat and take care of nature's needs. They'd both managed about two hours of sleep in Tank's office and they were looking a little more coherent. Woody was still shaking from the caffeine overload and I told him to check with Bobby before he ever drank that much Red Bull again. I thought his heart was going to explode.

I went and got Bobby, apologizing profusely that I couldn't let him sleep any more. He just shushed me and thanked me for letting him sleep as much as he had. He looked a lot better and I could only hope that Ranger would be refreshed as well.

I left Bobby in charge and went upstairs to the seventh floor. Ranger woke up as soon as I walked into the bedroom.

"Babe?" he said, sitting up and the sheet sliding down his chiseled chest and abs to pool in his lap. "Babe, what's wrong?"

"Tired," I said as I started pulling off my boots and cargos. I crawled into bed wearing my underwear and the tiny little shirt from my uniform. It's a bad sign when I'm too tired to pay attention to a naked Ranger, a very bad sign.

Ranger looked at the clock on the bedside table and swore. "Hell, Babe, why did you let me sleep so long? You're going to get sick again!"

"I'll be fine," I told him. "The guys were able to get a couple of hours of sleep and I sent Tank away as soon as I got down there, so he's had almost as much sleep as you. Let me sleep an hour or two and then I'll come back down to help."

"No, Babe, you need more than an hour of sleep. You sleep, I'll go down now," he said as he brushed a kiss across my cheek.

"How are you feeling?" I asked him as I snuggled deeper into his pillow, smelling his unique Ranger scent blended with Bulgari.

"Much better, Babe. Thanks," he said with a smile. He didn't look nearly as bad as he had earlier. I closed my eyes and was out.

_**Author's note: **__Thanks so much for the reviews! I've been sick this week myself with some type of stomach virus thing, so I haven't had much of a chance to respond to the reviews. I will get through them as quickly as I can, but until then, thank you for your feedback. It means so much as a writer._

_Please review!_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

I woke up several hours later. I stretched, got out of bed and got dressed before I wandered out into Ranger's living room. He wasn't there so I poked around in his fridge. Still no decent food, ugh. I left the apartment and went down to five, hoping to find Ranger and food, and not necessarily in that order.

I found Ranger sitting in front of the monitors in his usual Zen-like calm zone. Bobby was in his office and he was looking rather rough again. I walked into Bobby's office and he looked up at me with a slight smile. "Hey Bobby, I've got it. Go rest a little more."

"You sure, Bomber?" he asked but he was already out of his chair and halfway to the door.

"Yes," I called out, laughing as Bobby's backside vanished around the edge of the door. I sat down at his desk and was bored within moments. I stuck the cordless phone to my hip and walked into the kitchen, grabbed a couple of sandwiches and two bottles of water. I handed a sandwich and bottle of water to Ranger and kept the other for myself as I went back into Bobby's office.

The phone rang several times and I answered each call as professionally as I could. I was bored. So I got up and took the cordless phone with me as I sat next to Ranger watching monitors. Even recovering from the flu, I'm not good at sitting still so I was fidgeting a lot until Ranger reached over and grabbed my hands.

"Babe, you have to stop."

I sighed. "I'm bored. Give me something else to do or I'm going to sit here and fidget."

"Well, Tank probably needs help with payroll…" he started.

"Already did that."

"Oh then there are searches," he said.

I interrupted him again. "Done those too."

"Um, filing?" 

"Already done."

"Babe." 

"I was bored, Ranger. And you know I don't do bored well. So give me something else to do or I'm going to sit here and fidget." And make you nuts, but I didn't say the last part out loud. I don't think.

"How did you get that much done while you were down here earlier?" he finally asked.

"Ranger, you do know that I have a business degree, right? I had to take a bunch of human resources courses so payroll was really easy. It would be easier if you guys set up a proxy system to manage the time for you but that's another matter. And I've been doing searches for you for a while so I'm pretty good at those. They're on Tank's desks if you want me to get them. And I got bored enough to even do your filing."

"Babe."

"Ranger."

He sighed. "I had about four hours to kill. It was something I could do while Bobby was in dreamland."

"How did you finish payroll and all the searches in two hours? It takes Tank two hours just to do half of the payroll," Ranger said, and he was openly staring at me.

"That's because Tank's fingers are bigger than the keys on the keyboard. He needs a special Tank sized keyboard or something. And I'm pretty good with data entry, I did a lot of it as a broke college student to make ends meet. I got pretty fast at it, I guess," I explained. "And I used your desktop, your laptop and Bobby's desktop to run searches. The vast majority of the time on searches is spent waiting for the computers to compile the data. But running it on three computers, I was done in a third of the time."

"Tank will never forgive me if I don't convince you to take over payroll duties from now on. Both of us hate it and I make him do it because I don't want to do it. But if you can do it so quickly, or set up that system you were mentioning, it wouldn't be so bad for you." Ranger raised one eyebrow at me. He knew that made me nuts. My eyebrows moved as a pair or not at all, so not fair.

"So?" he asked.

I looked at him and raised both of my eyebrows.

"Babe."

"I never heard a question, Batman," I said with a smirk.

"Will you come back to work at RangeMan?"

"Hadn't I already agreed to this before I got sick?"

"Yeah, but that was just a temporary thing. You'd get back on your feet and then quit again. I'm serious this time. You can work full or part time but permanently this time. Tank will kill me if he has to go back to doing payroll again. And you're one of our best researchers," Ranger said with sincerity in his voice.

"Would I have to eat bark and twigs? And shoot the poor paper men who never did anything to me?"

"Babe."

"Contrary to what you apparently believe, the word 'Babe' does not constitute an answer!"

"No contraband so you would need to eat what Ella prepares for meals. But you seem to enjoy her food for the most part. And yes, you would be expected to spend time at the range just like any other staff member if you were to come back full time," Ranger said though I could tell it pained him. It was probably my comment about the paper men. What? I'm empathetic, so sue me.

"And exercise?"

"Three times a week."

"Twice a week," I countered. "And not when it's that time of the month."

"Babe."

"Seems like I have something you want. Namely, my mad payroll skills. If you want me, you have to work with me on this."

"You think you have all of the leverage here?" Ranger was amused.

"Not all of it, no. But you'll have to be the one to tell Tank that he has to keep doing payroll and searches because you're unwilling to negotiate," I said with a smile.

He gave me a wolf grin and pulled me close. "I could suggest other bargaining points."

"Um, no. All that would have to stop too if I were to work here on a permanent basis."

"All what?" he asked in confusion.

"The innuendo, flirting, whatever you want to call it."

"Babe."

"I'm serious, Ranger. I'm moving on, trying to find a nice guy who's actually willing to both accept me as I am and is wants to be in a relationship with me. And I don't want you screwing around with my feelings anymore. You're my friend, one of my best friends, but the time has come to crap or get off the pot, as my dad would say. And since I know you're not a relationship kind of guy, that means you have to stop with the touching and kissing and all that if you want us to stay friends."

"I've never played with your emotions!" Great, now he sounds insulted.

I snorted. Yeah right.

"Stephanie. I've always been honest with you about how I feel about you," he said. Um, yeah, maybe the fatigue has affected his brain already because God knows that the last thing this man has ever been about his feelings was honest.

"Whatever you say, Ranger. But you think about my terms and I'll think about yours and we can discuss it later," I finally said.

"I think we need to talk about it now."

So not going to happen. "Nope."

"Stephanie."

"Carlos."

"What?" He was surprised. I'd never used his real name before.

"Well, you decided to stop using my nickname and used my full name so I figured using your full name too was only appropriate."

"Babe."

"See, now you can be Ranger again."

"Madre de Dios," he muttered.

"Not her. Do I look like a divine virgin to you?" He was muttering under his breath in Spanish but I'd used up my limited vocabulary already.

"You're going to have to teach me some of those words," I told him when he finally grew silent.

"Speaking of learning Spanish, how are you going to explain spending five days in my bed to your date?" he said smugly.

"That I was very ill and that nothing happened."

"You think he'll believe that?"

"I know he will."

"Why is that?"

"Because he knows me and he knows you. And he trusts me," I told him as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"I know him?" Yeah, I really should have thought more about what I was saying before I said it. Damn fever. I just nodded. "Who is he?" Ranger asked.

"Not telling."

"Why not?"

"Because I like him and I don't want to scare him away," I said with a sigh.

"And you think I would scare him away?"

I snorted but didn't answer otherwise.

"Why do you think I'd try to scare him away?"

"I don't think you would necessarily try, but you would because that's just how you are. God help poor Julie when she's ready to start dating," I said with a smile at the idea. Ranger would be armed for World War III when she went out on her first date.

Ranger looked rather disgruntled at the thought of his daughter dating.

"It will happen soon, she's already a teenager," I informed him with a chuckle. Ranger shot me an evil glare and I just grinned. Maybe I should say God help the poor boy who asked Julie out instead? "My dad always said that daughters were the curse of being a man, knowing that some boy is out there who is just like you were at that age, and he wants to date your daughter."

Ranger growled faintly at that and gave me a look that would make most people wet their pants. I was finding the whole scenario very amusing, and I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when Julie called to tell him about her first date. Well, unless Ranger locked Julie up in a convent somewhere before she got to go on her first date.

"Glad my life is so amusing to you, Babe," Ranger said in a very pissed off tone of voice.

"Hey, I'm not going to have kids of my own, so I get to live vicariously though other people's kids. I get to be fun Aunt Stephanie and spoil them and then their mom and dad has to make sure they brush their teeth, do their homework and all the boring crap," I said with a wide grin.

"I thought Morelli wanted kids?" he said.

"He does."

"So what's the problem?"

I sighed. "I'm pretty sure I don't ever want to have kids and I damn sure don't want to turn into a freakin' Stepford wife. It's a big part of why I broke up with Joe." Does he never pay attention? I've told him this at least a dozen times.

He was quiet for a long time and I assumed he'd gone back into his zone. I went back to fidgeting since he'd not given me anything to do yet. I was singing under my breath and bouncing on the chair to the beat of the song in my head when he spoke again. I nearly fell off the chair in surprise.

"I thought you wanted a relationship," he said quietly.

"Ranger, there's a big, and I mean BIG, difference between a relationship and marriage with children. Huge difference. Enormous. Gigantic. And lots of other adjectives I can't think of right now," I said with a huff. "I've told you this a dozen times. Why do neither you or Joe actually ever listen to me?"

"So you really don't want to get married?"

"Ding, ding, ding! Give the man a prize! How many times have I told you that? My first marriage was a disaster of epic proportions and didn't last long enough for the ink to dry on the license. Why on earth would I want to go through that again? Sheesh."

"I thought most women wanted to get married."

"Are you freakin' kidding me? Has the lack of sleep melted your damn brain? I'M NOT MOST WOMEN!" I practically shrieked. "I chase down bad guys. I roll in garbage. I seem to collect stalkers like other women do shoes. I hang out with the men in black and an ex-hooker. My best friend is Batman. I'm not even remotely like most women."

I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest as I glared at him. "And you'd think after three years that you would know this by now. Idiot," I said as I walked away, murmuring unflattering things under my breath.

"Babe, come back," Ranger called out.

I flipped him the bird and stomped off to Tank's office. I'd promised to help and I would, but if I kept talking to Ranger right now, I'd probably try to strangle him. And even on my best day and his worst day, the odds were significantly against me succeeding, so there's no way I could win while I was still weak from the flu.

Two hours later, I was only slightly less peeved. I was caught up in setting up a proxy payroll system when there was a knock on the door. "What?" I murmured in a distracted tone.

"Babe."

"Idiot man."

"Babe!"

"What?" I snapped, finally looking up from the computer screen.

"I am not an idiot!" he said with a menacing glare.

"Sure fooled me then. I'm still mad at you. Go away before I delete the payroll program I just spent the last two hours setting up and then Tank really will kill you," I said with my own glare.

"Can we talk about this?" he asked in a flat tone. Batman was angry. Oh well.

"No. Now go away."

"Babe."

"I promised to help out, and I'm doing my best. But I'm mad at you for being an idiot and never listening to me. So just go harass someone else."

He was looming over me with his arms crossed over his chest. "Babe."

I sighed and leaned back in Tank's massive desk chair. "What do you want, Ranger? I'm tired, cranky and pissed at you. Now is not the time to try to talk to me."

"Babe."

"If I got even one woman on the jury, it would be ruled justifiable homicide if I killed you right now. So leave me alone!"

"We need to talk about this."

"No, we don't. I need a donut and to go home, and not necessarily in that order. I do not need to talk to you any more at all today," I said with a frown.

He reached out to tuck a curl behind my ear and I pulled away and grabbed Tank's industrial sized stapler.

"What are you going to do with that?" Ranger asked curiously.

"Staple your nuts to Tank's desk if you try to touch me again. No more touching!"

He winced slightly. He sighed and shook his head slightly. I could tell he was wondering how the hell he'd lost control.

"Call me when you're less crazy, Babe, and we'll finish our talk," he said as he started to lean in to kiss me. I grabbed the stapler and popped it open. He froze and then backed away slowly, like I was a wild and dangerous animal. Not too far off from the truth, actually.

I glared at him until the door closed. Then I went back to work organizing Tank's payroll files. Once I was done with that, I started a spreadsheet to keep track of the files of new accounts stacked in various places in Tank's office. That took another couple of hours and I was feeling tired and sore when I was done. I typed up notes explaining what all I'd done and printed it out for Tank to see when he was next in the office.

Then I poked my head out and saw that Ranger was still parked in front of the monitors but Hal was with him now. I ambled over. "You guys need a break for a little bit?"

"Hey, Bomber. I'm good, I just came on duty a little while ago," Hal said.

"You need a potty break?" I asked Ranger with a little grin.

"Babe."

"Even superheroes have to pee," I said as I rolled my eyes at him.

He shook his head softly like he couldn't believe I said that. But he stood up and stretched and headed towards the break room. "Guess superheroes need to eat, too," I told Hal with a grin and he grinned back at me.

I took Ranger's now empty seat and stared at the monitors. Hal and I chatted a little and he said that a bunch of the guys, including Lester, were recovering from the flu. Bobby had been running himself ragged trying to help keep the company running while also playing doctor to a bunch of cranky people with the flu. That explained why he'd looked like crap.

I hung out with Hal for about fifteen minutes before Ranger came back. "Last chance," I said to Hal. "You need to stretch, get something to eat or drink, anything like that?"

"Well, I guess a sandwich would be good. Back in a few," Hal said as he stood up and walked away. I stood up, took two steps and sat back down in Hal's chair so Ranger could sit in his chair again.

"Still mad?" he asked.

"Yep."

More silence.

"You still going to work here?" he asked.

"Don't know yet," I replied. "You going to actually listen to me when I tell you things?"

"Babe."

"Not an answer, Batman."

I saw him close his eyes for a moment. My mom used to do that when I was little. She said she was praying for patience. Guess Batman needs patience too.

"Stephanie, I do listen to you," he said. I snorted. "I do," he insisted.

Hal walked back up at that moment and I stood up to let him have his chair again. "Hal, can I ask you something random?" Hal looked at me in surprise but nodded. "Do I want to get married and have kids?"

Hal shot a confused look at Ranger before he shook his head. "No, you said you weren't in a hurry to ever get married again after your ex-husband and that kids scare the shit out of you."

I gave Hal a big smile. Then I turned back to glare at Ranger. "See? Hal pays attention. He listens. You don't."

I turned back to Hal and kissed his cheek. "Thanks," I told him.

Hal was looking very, very confused at this point but he just shrugged and sat down, putting his sandwich and drink on the desk in front of him. Ranger glared at me for a second.

"I'll call my dad to pick me up and take me home," I told Ranger. "Can I borrow your keys for a minute to get my purse and Rex?"

Ranger looked at me for a long moment. "You're still not completely better. Stay another night or two just in case."

I snorted. "I'm in much better shape than most of your guys at this point, and if I'm okay to work, I'm okay to go home," I told him.

"Babe."

"Ranger."

He sighed softly. I rolled my eyes at him. Hal was watching the two of us like a tennis game at Wimbledon. Back and forth, Ranger and Stephanie.

I looked at my watch and started tapping my foot in an obvious rush.

"Stay here one more night," he said.

I sighed. "If you really want a hamster that badly, I can take you to the pet shop where I got Rex. You don't have to try to keep my hamster prisoner."

"Babe."

"Ranger."

Poor Hal looked like he was about to explode. I looked over at him. "Hal, you need to breathe, man." He sucked in a lungful of air. "Good job."

Ranger looked like he was thinking about smiling. "What have I told you about being a smartass in front of my men, Babe?"

"That you find it amusing and I should do it more often?" I countered with a grin. Hal sucked in an audible breath at that and looked like he was about to bolt.

"Babe. And don't say Ranger," he warned.

"Batman," I replied with a big grin and both eyebrows raised.

"I'm never going to win, am I?" he asked with a resigned air.

"Probably not, but it's cute to watch you try!"

"Babe. I do NOT do cute!" he said in shock.

"I don't know, I thought it was cute. What about you, Hal? Did you find it cute?"

"Um," Hal hedged as he desperately tried to figure out some acceptable answer. "Um," he muttered again, starting to turn red.

"It's okay, Hal. You don't have to tell Ranger he was cute. I'm sure my testimony is sufficient," I said with a wave. Hal turned an alarming purple color. "Breathe, Hal."

Ranger just shook his head. "I remember when you were afraid of me."

"Ah, yes, the good ol' days," I said with a smirk. "But isn't this much more fun?"

"If it's fun you want, Babe, all you had to do was ask," he said with a wicked smile.

I smiled back my most devious and evil grin, the one that made Joe Morelli run in another direction. It made Ranger pause for a second. Keeping my gaze firmly on Ranger, I spoke to Hal. "Can you hand me that stapler, Hal?"

"Um," Hal said, looking between me and Ranger. "I don't think I should do that again," he finally muttered. The last time I'd asked him for something, I'd stunned him with his own stun gun.

"I solemnly swear not to use the stapler on you," I told Hal. "Just on him."

"Um," Hal stuttered, trying to decide which one of us he should be more afraid of.

Ranger looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. He still had a slight grin on his face but the corners of his mouth were twitching and the skin around his eyes had crinkled up. "See? He's laughing, nothing bad happening here. So just hand me the stapler. You never know when you're going to need to staple something, right, Ranger?"

Ranger did start to laugh at that, remembering my earlier threat. I smiled at Hal and winked at him, making him start to turn purple again. Then I batted my eyelashes at him and gave him the puppy dog look. "Can I please see the stapler, Hal?" I cooed. He froze and stared at me and Ranger.

"Oh for heaven's sake," I finally said as I stepped into Bobby's office. "I'll just take Bobby's stapler instead." I turned around with it in my hand and Ranger was right behind me.

"Something you want me to staple for you?" I asked with my head tilted slightly sideways.

I got the full-on Ranger grin, the one that makes women walk into walls. Thankfully, I'd seen it enough times to have partial immunity so I had to do was blink once to clear my mind.

"What happened to you, Babe?" he asked as he tried to take the stapler from me. I snapped it at his fingers a few times and he pulled away quickly. "You seem like you're having a lot of fun teasing me."

"Probably the fever killed off the brain cells that told me I shouldn't push you," I said with my own blinding smile, which made him blink as well. "So you're stuck with likes to live dangerously Stephanie for the moment."

"I can help you to live dangerously," he said with a soft purr as he pulled me closer.

"Aren't you afraid the danger might be directed at you?" I asked as I pushed myself away from him as much as I could.

"Should I be?"

"Oh, I would be very worried," I said as I slid the stapler along the top of his ear. "Ever wanted another piercing?"

He burst out laughing again and tried to grab the stapler. I've learned a few moves as a bounty hunter so I was able to take him by surprise when I twisted out from under his arms and walked out with Bobby's stapler still in my hand. "I'll trade you Bobby's stapler for the key to your apartment so I can go get my stuff."

He had his hands on his hips and he was shaking his head, a big smile still on his face. "This is fun," he said.

I gave him a big smile of my own. "And we didn't even get shot at or arrested!" That made him start laughing again as he remembered that comment from the first redecorating job I did for him.

"I'm learning all kinds of things about you," I told him with a smile. He quirked his eyebrow at me in question. "You like it when I tease you, you're scared of your mom and you're ticklish. I'm going to have to keep all of those in mind," I told him.

"Babe."

"Ranger," I said with my best 'who, me?' look on my face.

"Feeling brave, aren't you?" he asked me.

"Nah, I've been around you long enough by now to know that you won't actually kill me or ship me off to a third world country. If destroying your cars and your Merry Men hasn't gotten me into too much trouble, then a little joking around won't get me killed. I may just be entertainment, but luckily you seem to be fond of being entertained."

"Who told you that you were just entertainment?" he asked with a frown.

"You did. I think your exact quote was that I was a line item under your entertainment budget," I said. His brow furrowed and he thought. I could tell when he remembered because his frown deepened slightly.

"Babe, you've been thinking that ever since I made that comment?"

"Well, you never said anything to the contrary," I replied and Ranger looked a little shell-shocked. His eyes narrowed and it felt like he was trying to see into my soul. Eek!

"Seriously, though," I told him, trying to change the subject. "I want to go home. I miss my bed."

"I thought you liked my bed."

"I do, but I shouldn't be in your bed now that it's not my death bed any longer," I said with a smile.

"Why's that?" he asked as he steadily moved towards me.

"Well it's like you said. I can explain sharing a bed with you when I'm delirious with the flu, but it's harder to explain it was platonic when I'm pretty much better, don't you think?" I asked him with a smile.

Ranger just stared at me for a moment. I could almost see the wheels turning in his brain. He couldn't really argue because he'd implied the same thing earlier, but it was keeping him from his goal of me staying another night. I don't know why he wanted me to stay but I wasn't about to give in without a darn good reason. So I just kept my mouth shut and waited.

"Babe." I rolled my eyes. I had to. That statement just demanded a good 'Burg eye roll.

"Ranger."

He sighed softly. Then he pulled out the big guns. "Please, Babe?"

Damn him, he knows I can't resist when he says please. Well, hell, guess I'll stay one more night, but it's under duress and I'm going to cause him as much duress as I can manage.

"Fine, but I want cake and a lot of it. And I'll sleep on your couch. And I'm not getting up at the butt crack of dawn either. And I'm not running. And I'm…" I said until Mr. Rude, also known as Ranger, interrupted me.

"Babe."

"Ranger."

"You sure have a lot of conditions," he said with his thinking about smiling smile.

"All the better to negotiate with. I'll stay but only if you meet my terms," I said crossing my arms across my chest.

"Where's all this business acumen coming from, Babe?" he asked with a smirk.

I widened my eyes innocently. "Did you know that Harry Potter was on Broadway? He got nekkid in his first show, so the girls I went to check it out, you know, just in case. Lula wanted to see his wand," I said as I rolled my eyes and made the air quotes around the word wand.

"And?" he asked impatiently.

"And it was 'How to succeed in business without even trying' and it made me start thinking back to some of my business classes," I said with a wide grin.

"Where you learned about leverage and negotiation?"

"Yep."

"So you're ready to negotiate with me?"

"Sure."

"Why is that?"

"'Cause I can just walk away. I don't particularly want to stay tonight but you want me to stay. So it's on you to make me happy or I call my dad and get a ride home."

"Babe, I can make you very happy," he said with an arrogant grin.

"Can it, Ranger. I told you to stop with all of that crap and I mean it."

He stepped forward and crowded me with his bulk. He leaned in to kiss my lips and I turned my head so he was kissing my cheek instead. "I said stop."

"Babe."

"No means no, Ranger. And I'm saying no. Now back off!"

He moved but only by an inch, not even enough to give me some breathing room.

"You're serious?" he sounded faintly flabbergasted.

"Yes. Now back the fuck up!" I said as my temper began to fly out of control.

He pulled back a little but didn't let me go. "Why?" he asked.

I'd told him several times over the last several days to stop it with all the touchy stuff. I started poking him in the chest with the stapler as I explained my points. "I'm sick of this shit and it ends now. I have asked you nicely several times now. I've explained why, that I'm trying to turn my train wreck of a life around. But you're not listening to me, again! Got it? No more of this!"

"Babe, I…" he starts but I interrupt him.

"Stop. Just give me your damn key so I can go get Rex and get the hell out of here!"

He looked a little angry but I was way, way past being just a little angry. I was past enraged and working myself into bloody furious. Rhino mode was only seconds away. Oh yeah, there it was.

Hi, rhino. Lovely weather we're having today.

"I'm a real fucking person, with real feelings. And you screw with them when it suits you and your fucking whims. You chase me like crazy when I'm with Joe but then when we're off, you'd think I had the damn plague. Then I get back with Joe and you're back. Well fuck that shit! I'm not a toy and I'm not your toy. I'm more than just fucking entertainment. I'm a person and I fucking deserved to be treated like it!" I was apparently channeling Sally Sweet with the number of F-bombs I was dropping. But I was so mad I was almost seeing red and I didn't care that my mother would pass out in shock at the language coming out of my mouth.

He stood there silently with his blank face. I was shaking I was so angry and I swear I was only a hairsbreadth away from punching him in the nose with the stapler.

"Give me the damn key." I held my hand out and he wordlessly pulled his keys out of his pocket and handed them to me. I snatched them out of his hand and put Bobby's stapler back down on his desk. Then I maneuvered around Ranger without looking at him and went up to his apartment.

I did a quick trip through the apartment to grab anything that was mine. I found a couple of things and I snatched them up, shoving them into my giant purse. I knew there was a reason why I always carried a purse that could hold half my own body weight. I grabbed Rex's cage and wiped away the tears that had leaked out of my eyes.

I got into the elevator and hit the button for the lobby. I got out, threw Ranger's key fob into the elevator car and stalked outside. He could get it his own damn self. Once I was outside, I power walked for a couple of blocks before the cold finally got to me. Not a good idea to run away when it's cold outside and you're just in a t-shirt, just in case you ever need to know. Especially when you aren't wearing a coat or thick, fuzzy socks.

_**Author's note: **__As always, thanks for the reviews! I love them more than you will ever know. Fanfiction writers don't get royalty checks (sadly), so reviews are all we get. So please leave them, even if it's just a word or two. Every time you leave a review, a kitten gets to chase a butterfly._

_Hope everyone in the US has a great Martin Luther King, Jr, holiday. If you're bored and need something inspiring to read, look up Mr. King's 'Letters from a Birmingham Jail' to be completely amazed by his eloquent words. I make my sophomores read them and it always blows their minds._


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

I tucked myself and Rex into a doorway to get out of the bitterly cold wind and pulled out my cell phone. I called my dad and asked him if he could come pick me up as soon as possible. As I knew he would, he agreed and said he'd be there as fast as he could.

Twelve minutes later, dad squealed to a stop in front of me and jumped out of the car. I took one look at him and did something I hadn't done in years, if not decades. I sobbed into my dad's shoulder as he held me in a big, warm bear hug.

When I finally lifted my head, I was somehow sitting in my dad's cab and he was crouched down beside me, holding me in an awkward embrace as the heater of his cab blasted me with warmth.

"Punkin, honey, what's wrong?" he asked me gently. The whole story came pouring out. And I do mean the whole story. The DeChooch deal, the endless and maddening game of 'he wants me, he wants me not', our fight tonight. All of it.

When I finally finished and looked up at my dad, he had on a blank face that would make any RangeMan proud. When he noticed me looking at him, he smiled and his face softened.

"Honey, I'm proud of you for taking a stand. You deserve better than to be a one-night stand. You deserve a lot better. You deserve the romance, honey. Don't ever doubt that," he said as he stared intently into my eyes.

That did it again. I am such a daddy's girl and I turned into a blubbering mess again. God knows it's not the first time I've drenched my dad's shirt with my tears, but I'd been hoping that it would stop once I was a grown up. Guess you're never too old for your daddy to comfort.

When I was done crying for the second time, dad tucked all of me into the cab this time and loaded my purse and Rex into the back seat. Then he started driving and I assumed that we'd end up at my apartment. I was surprised when we didn't.

"Um, dad? Where are we?" I asked as he pulled into a gravel driveway to a small cabin set back in the woods.

"Pine Barrens, honey."

"Um, why?"

"Belongs to a friend of mine who's out of town for a while. He asked me to check in on it sometimes and to feel free to stay if I wanted. I figure you could use a couple of days out of town," he said with a smile.

Yep, it's official. My daddy is a genius. I smiled as best I could after crying out approximately three gallons worth of tears and nodded.

"I'll let you two get settled and I'll go grab you a few groceries to last a couple of days, okay?" he asked once he'd shown me around the small cabin. It was simple but elegant and more than sufficient as a hide out.

"I don't have any clothes. And I really don't want to keep wearing clothes with his name all over them," I told him with a frown as I glared at my shirt.

My dad laughed. "I'll get you some clothes, too, punkin."

"Thanks, daddy," I said. I hadn't spent this much time at once with my dad in years, but I couldn't figure out why. He'd always understood me far better than my mom. I'd missed my dad.

He ruffled my curls like he used to when I was seven and then he was gone. I took a nice hot bath while he was gone and was slowly starting to feel more centered when he got back.

He had a bunch of Walmart bags full of basics like shirts, jeans, sweats and jammies. He blushed when he handed me the bag with new underwear in it and I blushed when I looked in the bag. Crap, my dad should NOT know my bra size!

We both rushed to explore the other bags he'd brought in. They contained a wide assortment of completely bad for you, absolutely no redeeming nutritional qualities at all junk food. Have I mentioned that I love my dad?

Then dad went back out to his cab and came back in with two pizza boxes and a six pack of Coke.

We sat on the couch and watched TV, the room quiet except for the sounds of the TV and of two people enjoying a late lunch. Huh. I never knew I'd gotten my vocal appreciation for food from my dad. I'd shared a million meals with him before, but always with my mom. Guess something blocked him from moaning and groaning when my mom was there. Weird.

After we'd pretty much decimated the pizza, we watched TV for a while. Eventually, though, my dad looked at his watch and grimaced. "Sorry, honey, but if I don't leave soon, I'll have to explain everything to your mom. Do you want me to stay and tell her or do you want me to leave and keep it quiet?" he asked.

"Um, I'd rather keep it quiet for now. I'm just not up to dealing with mom or anything yet."

He snorted. He knew the feeling.

"I know the number to the landline, I'll call you tomorrow to check in on you. If you don't want to be tracked here, you should probably turn off your cell phone tonight if you think he'll be looking for you," dad said.

Oh crap, he was right. I nearly pulled a hammie as I took a swan dive off the couch towards my purse. I shoved my hand into its inky recesses and fished around until I found my phone. Jerking it out, I quickly turned it off and glared at the now harmless hunk of plastic.

Dad was chuckling and he had a big grin on his face. "That's my girl!"

"Thanks for everything, daddy," I said.

"You're welcome. You can call when you're ready to head home or if you want to talk, okay? Otherwise, I'll call and check on you from the lodge," he said. I just nodded.

He stood up, gave me another giant hug and then left, telling me to be sure I locked up behind him.

"Just you and me, Rex," I told my diminutive roommate as I fed him a chunk of pizza crust. He twitched his little whiskers thanks at me and then dove head first into his soup can house.

I didn't even what time it was or really what day it was. Between the flu and working until I pretty much dropped, things were all screwy. I flicked the TV over to the weather channel and sat through several minutes of a perky meteorologist gushing over the jet stream. Whatever. Tell me what freakin' day it is, Miss Sunshine!

Finally, the forecast came on. The forecast for Trenton was pretty much like it usually is this time of the year. In a word, grim. But I least I found out that it was Thursday night. Okay, good enough for me.

I was emotionally exhausted so I feel asleep pretty quickly on the couch. I finally got up off the couch and tucked myself into the bed. I thought for sure I'd toss and turn, but I guess I was just too tired for that.

When I woke up the next morning, the sun was streaming in and the birds were chirping. So basically I woke up confused as hell. Jersey girls don't do all this nature stuff. Felt like I was in an Amy Adams movie or something.

Still, I got up and walked into the kitchen to survey my massive hoard of junk food. I contemplated my options for a few minutes before finally ripping open the box of Krispy Kremes and munching on a donut. They were so light and airy that I ate almost half the box before I realized I'd eaten anything. Shit, those would probably go straight to my hips. Oh well, I had lost some weight from the flu, and I had a feeling I was going to really enjoy gaining it all back. I just hope those lost pounds didn't bring any friends with them. That would really suck.

I walked around in the woods for a while, grateful that my dad had gotten me a fleece zip-up jacket and warm wool socks. After exhausting my patience with nature, or about ten minutes, I went back inside and raided the DVD collection I'd noticed last night. Yes, I liked this person, he had both Ghostbusters movies, and first three Indianan Jones movies (the fourth one was a travesty and doesn't count) and a couple of other kick ass movies.

I put in Ghostbusters I and proceeded to completely veg out on the couch. Eventually, my growling tummy got my attention and I made a nice lunch out of utter junk. Ranger would be appalled. Thinking about Ranger was appalling to me, so I gave myself a stern talking-to and went back to watch more mindless '80's movies.

A little after lunch, the phone rang. I almost didn't answer it, but I remembered that my dad said that he would call. "Hello?" I asked hesitantly.

"Hey, punkin, it's just me," my dad reassured me.

"Hey, daddy. What's up?" I asked.

"Just at the lodge. How are you doing? Feeling any better?" he replied.

"I'm okay, I guess. Watching movies and working my way through all the junk food you bought me," I said with a smile.

"That's my girl!" I could hear the smile in his voice. We exchanged small talk for a while before he turned the conversation back to a more serious tone. "Anything I can do?"

"Not unless you have a time machine that can take me back to before I met Ranger or Joe again, not really." Hmm, that added another set of '80's movies to the list. Wonder if there are any of the Back to the Future movies here? Something to check out later.

"I wish I did. Want me to beat them up for you instead?" I had to laugh at the thought of my retired postmaster dad beating up Batman.

"No, but thanks for that visual!" I replied with a laugh.

"Anytime, honey."

"Thanks, dad."

"You're welcome. Well, I guess I should get off here and go actually drive my cab around a little," he said. "I'll call you again before I head back to the house."

I did find all three of the Back to the Future movies and I settled in to watch Marty McFly and Doc Brown screw with the timeline in an old DeLorean. Fun times.

Dad called again about 5:30. I was debating whether to eat the leftover pizza or to have another meal of assorted junk food. My dad really knows me.

"Hey honey," he said with amusement lacing his voice.

"Uh oh. What's wrong?" I asked suspiciously.

"You've got Ranger chasing his own tail all over Trenton, honey," dad replied and I was absolutely sure that there was a smirk on his face.

"What?"

"Well, I guess after your fight, he assumed you'd just go home. When you weren't there this morning, he eventually ended up at our house asking if we'd seen you. Your mom told him no and I didn't call him to tell him anything different. So now he's been running around town trying to find you. That Morelli boy keeps calling too, guess Ranger called him," dad said with glee.

He was enjoying this way too much, but then again, so was I. Guess I know where I got my sense of humor from, too. But I didn't want anyone to worry about me either. Damn guilty conscious. It really sucks to have it at times.

"Well, maybe you can call Joe and tell him that I called you and that I'm fine? That should get them off the search without getting mom all worked up in a tizzy," I suggested.

Dad grumbled for a minute before giving in. "Alright, I'll call them after dinner if you insist." He was not happy that his fun was ending.

Dad promised to call me back the next morning with an update. He'd pick me up on Sunday afternoon so I could head back to work on Monday.

The next day, dad reported on his talk with Joe. Joe had been mostly relieved to hear that I was fine, just out of town recovering from the flu. Ranger had actually come by the house to talk to my dad directly. Dad said that he looked pretty damn rough and that Ranger kept pushing for details about where I was. He finally stopped when dad looked him in the eyes and told him that he didn't blame his daughter one bit for needing a little time alone given his treatment of me, and would he expect his daughter to react differently? Apparently that shut Ranger up quick. He'd rip apart anyone who dared to treat Julie like he'd treated me.

I spent the day walking around outside in between the freezing cold bursts of wind. Then I went back inside and watched more movies and ate more junk food. That probably wasn't the ideal combination, eating a million calories while expending about four calories, but it would have to do. My dad would be back to pick me up tomorrow, so I only had to make it one more day. The solitude was starting to get to me though and I had to studiously avoid watching any horror or mystery movies. I didn't want to wake up in the middle of Psycho and freak out about the shower.

The next day, I packed up my meager belongings in the plastic bags they'd been in and cleaned up the cabin. I washed the linens I'd used and replaced them and then tidied up the house. You wouldn't even know I'd been there.

Dad drove me back to Trenton and took me out to a little diner just outside of town for dinner before dropping me at my apartment. He helped me carry my stuff in and made sure my apartment was Ranger and Morelli free. Thankfully, it was. Unfortunately, my answering machine was blinking manically, indicating that I had a lot of unheard messages. Great.

I fed Rex, ate a little more junk food as a snack and then took a shower before toppling into bed.

I got up the next morning and went through my normal routine. I was in the bond's office trying to answer Lula and Connie's gazillion questions when they suddenly froze and I knew Ranger was there.

He handed over a couple of receipts to Connie and then turned back to me when she shook her head no when he asked if she had any files for him. "Babe," he said as he settled his hand on my shoulder. "Can I talk to you outside?" He moved towards the door, confident that I would follow him.

"No," I said instead as I started flipping through my files.

"No?" he repeated like he'd never heard the word. Probably he didn't hear it very often, and almost never from me. That would change now.

Connie and Lula were barely breathing as they watched us. "No. Bills to pay, bad guys to catch, you know how it is."

"Babe."

I just sat silently as I reviewed my skips. "Thanks for these, Connie," I said as I nodded at Connie and Lula. "Later."

I walked by Ranger and he reached out to touch me but recoiled at the death glare I sent his way. He stepped back with his hands in the air in submission. I nodded slightly but didn't stop to speak with him.

I could feel him watching me as I climbed into my POS and drove away. Good. Let him be the one standing there for once.

I picked up a couple of repeat skips and was able to get them to the cop shop with a minimum of fuss and no rolling in garbage. Joe wasn't around, thank God, and I was able to grab my receipts and skedaddle each time.

I had just gotten home from dinner with Connie and Lula, and I was sitting on the couch staring at the bouquet of flowers on my coffee table suspiciously when I heard the locks tumble. Ranger walked in, dressed in full SWAT gear and looking like he could take down a dictatorial regime all by himself.

"Another stalker?" he asked as he stared at my happy yellow and white flowers.

"I don't know, I haven't read the card yet," I admitted without looking directly at him.

"Babe."

I sighed. "These are my favorite flowers and I want to enjoy them for a minute in case they're from some sicko," I said.

I took one last sniff and pulled the little card away from the flowers. The more I read, the more I smiled. They weren't from a stalker, they were from Les, only he hadn't signed his name.

_Stephanie_, it read,_ I just heard that you had the flu too. I'm so sorry that you were ill. I had the flu too and I just recovered enough to call but I thought you might like get well flowers. I hope you're better soon. Talk to you soon. L._

I could feel myself grinning as I read the card. Aww, that was just so sweet.

"Babe," Ranger said and I actually jumped slightly. I'd been so enthralled by my flowers that I'd forgotten he was there.

"Not a stalker, it was my date from last weekend," I told him. "He had the flu too and sent me these beautiful flowers to apologize for not calling me sooner. So it's fine." I leaned down to sniff the delicate fragrance of the white roses and sunny yellow daisies.

"You seem happy to have flowers," Ranger finally said, noticing my dreamy expression.

"Do you know the last time I got flowers from someone other than a psycho?" I asked him. He didn't answer. "Yeah, I don't remember either. So it's just really nice to know that someone was thinking about me. So sue me, but I'm a girl."

"Now that we've determined that my flowers aren't a threat, you can go away now," I told him as I hugged the vase to my chest so I could stick my face in my flowers.

"Babe, we need to talk."

"Nope. We've already established that you don't listen when I talk, so there's no need to bother," I told him in a frosty tone.

"Babe."

"Goodbye, Ranger," I said.

"Dammit, Stephanie, we need to talk!" he roared, his famous control deserting him.

"Why?" I asked in the most bored voice I could manage as I sat the vase back down on the coffee table and started fiddling with the flowers.

"Because!" he said as he shoved one hand through his hair, pulling it out of his ponytail he had it in.

"Because why?" I replied again, channeling my inner toddler.

"Because I do listen to you!"

I just snorted and played with my flowers. "I do," he insisted.

I just looked at him as coolly as possible and went back to arranging my flowers. I heard a growl of frustration before he was in front of me, pulling my hands away from the vase. "Dammit, look at me!"

I glared at him. "No. And get your damn hands off of me!"

"There was a time when you liked my hands on you," he smirked.

"There was a time when I thought you were my friend!" I retorted.

He looked stricken. "Babe, you don't think I'm your friend now?" he asked quietly.

"Don't see how you can be my friend when you have absolutely no respect for me," I told him just as quietly as I pulled my hands away.

"You think I don't respect you?"

I glared at him. "You tell me how you'd react to some guy putting his hands all over Julie after she asks him repeatedly to stop!" He glared back at me. "I'm somebody's daughter too, you know."

He stood there silently for a moment. "When did things get so fucked up?" he asked quietly. I'm not sure whether it was an actual question or a rhetorical one, but I decided to answer anyways.

"When you got too damn busy pushing me away to notice that I wasn't chasing you in the first place," I informed him. "But I'm sick of the stupid game and I'm not going to play it any more. So you can just go and do whatever the heck it is you superheroes do when you're not shooting bad guys."

"Damn it, Babe, I'm not a damn superhero, I'm just a man!" he roared in frustration.

I turned to stare at him. "I never really met the man, I only met the freaking superhero mask. I know Batman, but I don't have a damn clue about Bruce Wayne. And who's fault is that? Huh, Ranger? I never got past the façade so don't blame it on me if I don't know the man behind the mask. I tried. I failed."

"Babe."

"Don't 'Babe' me, mister. You know every damn humiliating story about me but I don't even know where you live. So don't start with me." I sighed, suddenly tired. "Just go away. Please."

"Babe, we do need to talk about this," he insisted.

"No, we don't. Nothing to talk about," I said, equally insistent. Then I flopped over on the sofa, flipped onto my stomach and buried my head in my arms. "Please just go. I can't deal with this."

I felt him come closer to me and squat down in front of me. "Babe, please," he said softly and I turned my head to look at him. He was just in front of me, only a few inches between us.

"Ranger, please," I managed to get past the lump in my throat. "Please, just go. I… just go."

He sighed and tucked a curl back behind my ear. I moved away from his touch and he looked like he was in pain. Good, he could join the club. I put my head back down and tried to ignore him.

"Stephanie, I never meant to hurt you, I hope you know that. I would never do anything to hurt you," he said in his soft, rumbly voice.

I remained quiet. Nothing could induce me to talk anymore. I was only holding on by a thread and that thread was fraying frantically. The sword of Damocles was dangling right above my head.

"Babe," he finally sighed after the longest time. Felt like a glacier could have moved a couple of dozen miles at least. "I wanted to tell you that I have to go in the wind for a little while." I snorted softly. Nice timing, huh? Just like after the DeChooch deal when he was gone for months.

"I swear it wasn't up to me. I just found out last night," he said. Yeah, whatever.

"I should only be gone a couple of weeks. Call Tank if you need anything. We _will_ talk when I get back, Babe," he promised. Yeah, so not happening. If I could simply hide here on my couch for the rest of my life, that would be a-okay with me.

"Don't get shot," I whispered because I'd feel like shit if something happened to him and I didn't at least say something semi-positive the last time I saw him. Thinking like that made my heart hurt so I started trying to name all of the Smurfs in my head instead. Why's there only one girl Smurf but dozens of boy Smurfs? I bet Smurfette doesn't have a problem getting a date.

By the time I'd finished mentally counting Smurfs, I'd heard Ranger sigh and stand up. He brushed a kiss against my hair and then he was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

At some point while I was hiding from the world, I fell asleep. I woke up the next morning with the mother of all cricks in my neck, bride of Frankenstein hair and such massive raccoon eyes that they were more like panda eyes.

I stumbled to the kitchen and got the coffee going while I jumped in the shower to try to get myself looking presentable. Maybe the hot water would help with the crick in my neck. I stumbled out of the shower and went unerringly to the coffee pot. Caffeine should help. I swallowed a couple of ibuprofen with my coffee and sat back down on the couch to wait for the combination of hot water, drugs and caffeine to wake me up fully.

Eventually, I was awake enough to notice the time. Oh holy crap, it was only seven in the freaking morning. Why am I up this early? Jeez. But I was wide-awake now from my coffee and shower and I didn't think there was any way that I could fall back asleep.

So I did the unthinkable. Yes, that's right, I went on a run. I know, it's insane but I was wide awake, it was way too early to go to the bond's office and I was kind of liking the ability to consume massive quantities of junk food and still be able to button my jeans, but I'd rather not have to suffer though the flu again for that ability.

I came back in and took another shower and then made a respectable dent in my junk food stockpile from my dad.

I made it to the bond's office just a little after Connie arrived. She was pretty surprised to see me there so early, but we sat down and chatted while the office coffee pot was making it's carafe of happy juice. I had a couple of new files and Connie reminded me of my outstanding files from before I caught the flu. Time was running out on their bond and I needed to find them soon or Vinnie would forfeit the bond.

I had just gotten in the car when my phone rang. It was RangeMan.

"Yo," I answered.

"It's Tank."

"Hey, Tank. What's up? You feeling any better now?" I asked, not really expecting an answer from the man who was even more reticent than Ranger, if that were possible.

"Feeling better. I saw your note about the stuff you did. When are you going to come in and show me how to use your new stuff?" he responded.

"Um," I said as I tried to find a way to explain that I'd probably never be back at Haywood after my fights, yes plural, with Ranger.

"I kinda had a fight with Ranger before he left and I'm not sure if he would want me working at RangeMan or not," I finally told Tank.

"He left a message telling me to hire you and for you to show me all the improvements you made," Tank informed me.

Hmm. Wonder if that was before or after? "What time did he leave the message?"

"About eight last night," he said. Alright, that was after I kicked him out so I guess he hasn't given orders to shoot on sight. And I really did need the money after being out of commission for almost a week. I probably should have come home and chased skips instead of moping in the woods, but I think I needed that time away.

"You want me to come by now or after lunch?" I asked Tank.

"Now if you're free."

"I could be there in fifteen," I said and I waited to hear a reply. When I didn't after several seconds, I looked down at my phone. Call disconnected. Yep, he'd hung up on me. Why am I not surprised?

I continued my drive by of one of my skip's house, but I didn't see his car parked out front so I drove past the house. I backtracked towards the bond's office and went on to the RangeMan offices on Haywood.

I used my key fob to let me into the garage and parked next to Ranger's Turbo. Yeah, working here was going to make it really difficult not to think of Ranger, and unfortunately thinking of Ranger really made me sad. I considered him one of my best friends, but he'd never paid any attention to any of the things I'd told him. I know I tend to ramble but he could at least pay a little bit of notice to the things I say. Right?

By the time I'd finished my musings, the elevator doors opened to the fifth floor. It was better staffed this time, but there were still a lot fewer men in black than usual. Several guys called out greetings to me as I walked by, and I smiled at a paler, slightly thinner Lester when I walked by his office. He smiled back and beckoned for me to come in.

"Hey, Beautiful. You feeling better?" he asked.

"Hi Les. Yeah, lots better than before. How about you?" I said as I kissed his cheek.

He grimaced. "Okay now. That was a nasty flu bug," he said and I only nodded in agreement. Yep, it was.

"So I heard you stayed on seven with Ranger while you were sick," he said with a grin.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Was kidnapped, you mean. I was too delirious and sick to make more than just a token protest when he and Bobby kidnapped me."

"Bobby said you were pretty sick."

"Yeah, it wasn't fun, that's for sure," I told him. "I tried to ask him about you but he was so out of it, I don't even think he recognized your name."

Lester laughed. "He said Ranger was pretty damn frantic," he said with a glint in his eye. I ignored his comment.

"Well, I gotta see Tank. Can we catch up later?" I asked in a not so subtle attempt to change the subject.

"Sure, just stop by when you're done."

"Okie dokie."

I walked out and over to Tank's office. It was open so I just rapped gently on the doorjamb. "Hey Tank."

"Stephanie," he said as he motioned for me to close the door. I closed it and sat down on the couch across from Tank's desk.

"What's up?" I asked him.

He looked at me for a minute. "Think your fight had anything to do with why Ranger was in a pretty pissy mood last night?"

I winced. One the one hand, it was none of his damn business. On the other hand, Tank was a friend, to both us. "Probably, but it's not like I've figured out how he thinks," I finally told him.

"What happened?" Tank asked as he leaned back in his desk chair.

I sighed. How to explain this? "Well, I guess it started a couple of months ago when I broke up with Joe for good. Before that, Ranger always seemed to be around, little touches, kisses in the alley, that sort of thing. Once I'm single, he vanishes for all practical purposes. The only times I see him are when Joe is around too. And I'm tired of being a freaking rope being jerked around so one of them can win some stupid macho competition."

Tank looked a little surprised but just nodded slightly.

"So I've been trying to get back out there and date. Ranger didn't really like that but it's not up to him. So I've had a couple of evenings out and all of sudden he's back to the touchy stuff. I'm trying to actually find a nice guy who likes me for me and he's starting that crap up again? So I asked him to stop. Then I told him to stop. He didn't. It pissed me off that he'd completely ignore my request, my decision. So we fought about the fact that he never listens to me and that he won't respect my wishes," I told Tank.

"So, to sum up, Ranger's upset because you're starting to date other people and you're upset because you don't want him putting the moves on you," Tank said succinctly.

"Sounds about right," I admitted.

"So what's different now? You didn't seem to mind it when you were with the cop."

I sighed. "As Ranger had pointed out, I was in an unhealthy pattern with Joe. The thing is, this macho bullshit with Ranger is also unhealthy."

"How so?"

"Because it's not what I need."

"What do you need?"

"A relationship," I said quietly after a brief pause.

"And why can't you have that with Ranger?"

I snorted. "He doesn't want that."

"What do you mean?"

"He's the one who insists that he doesn't do relationships. And I need more than casual sex, which is all he says he can offer me," I finally told him after having an internal debate.

Tank did look somewhat shocked. "He said what?" 

"You heard me."

"Could you have misunderstood?"

"He's said it multiple times, so no, I don't think I could have misunderstood."

"Fuck."

"Yep." I paused for a moment. "So you see my dilemma. Ranger's one of my best friends, but I can't let it be more than that anymore. But he doesn't seem to quite understand this so I've been mostly trying to avoid him. With limited success."

Tank leaned back in his chair and studied me for a moment. "You let me know if he goes beyond your boundaries and I'll kick his ass for sexual harassment," he said with a glimmer of a smile.

I had to laugh. I'd seen Ranger and Tank spar, and they were pretty evenly matched, so I'm not sure that Tank really could kick his ass. But it would be entertaining to watch him try!

"Is there any type of dating policy for RangeMan?" I asked. I figured it was better to find out now than to go out with Lester again and find out I was in deep doo-doo for it.

Tank's eyebrows lifted. "There's no policy on it," he said. "You planning to date someone here?"

I wiggled uncomfortably in my seat. "Um, maybe?" I said weakly.

"Do I need to know about it?" he asked me calmly.

"It's only been one real date so far, we're still getting to know each other outside of work stuff, so I don't think you need to know about it. But if it starts to move beyond just friends hanging out, I'd discuss it with you," I told him. "I'd appreciate it if you kept this to yourself. The boss," I rolled my eyes, "really does not need to know this!"

I got the partial smile again. Then a slight nod. You know, for guys who spend so much time in the gym, you wouldn't think they needed to conserve energy so much that they can't actually smile or nod like normal people. Sheesh.

"So about you working here," Tank said, effectively ending the more personal portion of our chat. He went over the duties of the position and my responsibilities as a RangeMan employee. My eyes bugged out slightly when I saw the salary for the half-time position.

"Are you sure this is right? I think this is the number for full-time," I said as I handed it back to him.

He took a quick look. "No, that's right. Full-time is a little more than double that figure." He handed me another set of papers that was for full-time employment.

Holy shit. Even the half-time salary would keep Rex in hamster nuggets for a long time. I wouldn't have to worry about paying my rent. I could stop going to my parents' house to mooch food. Hell, the full-time salary would be enough for me to move out of my crummy apartment and to actually have furniture that was even semi-matched.

I flipped through the contracts while Tank went back to answering emails. Essentially, the job conditions were the same for both. I'd have to eat Ella's food, like that was a major hardship, always carry my gun when on duty, practice at the gun range and work out at minimum three times per week on average. Ranger had included a little note about getting in extra workouts before or after I was indisposed, to use his language. Yikes, he'd put in a clause about my freakin' period! That's pretty embarrassing, I'm so glad he's not here to see me read this. But it would be nice to not have to worry about getting in a run when I wanted to murder people from PMS or had killer cramps.

I could live in the building for pretty cheap rent if an apartment became available, or I could choose to live elsewhere at long as it was within a 15 minute commute. Yeah, no way in hell was I going to live in the same building as Ranger. That would make it nearly impossible to try to move on. I loved Ella a lot, but not that much.

The job duties would depend on whether I was full or part time. Full-time was mostly extended involvement in the half-time job duties. So more time spent on office management, searches and the investigative side of things, with some field work. Yay, so excited to spend more time on stakeouts. Or maybe not.

"Can I think about it for a day or two?" I asked Tank.

He turned back to face me. "Sure. Just let me know when you've decided."

"Okie dokie."

"Can you show me the changes you made now?"

"Sure. Scoot over!" I said as I walked around the desk and took command of his mouse. I pulled up the new programs I'd installed and walked him through them step-by-step. By the end of my little demonstration, Tank was looking at me like I look at chocolate cake. It was a little unnerving, actually.

"It will really cut my paperwork time that much?" he asked me in a slightly skeptical tone.

"It should. I've done the time consuming part already, putting in the basic info and building the database. Now it should pretty much just be a matter of putting in the time worked in the appropriate categories and exporting it for the accounting firm. So after the first time or two, when we've fixed any bugs, it should be a pretty easy process," I told him.

"You're pretty good at this, aren't you?" Tank asked as he stared at me.

Now how do you answer a question like that? If you say yes, you're arrogant. If you say no, you've got poor self-esteem or you're incompetent. "I guess."

"How'd you know about all this?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I have a business administration degree. I used it a couple of years at E.E. Martin, but after they closed due to shady business practices, no company would touch anyone with management experience from there with a ten-foot pole. So I blackmailed Vinnie into giving me a job, and you know the rest."

"The changes you've made seem to be working pretty good so far. And you made those just because you were bored, if I understood Ranger," he said with a slight smile.

"Yeah, well Bobby was sleeping and Woody and Cal were way too out of it to be able to have a conversation and watch the monitors at the same time. I don't do bored well, so I had to find something to do. This seemed like as good of a way to spend my time as any."

"Well, it's good work," he told me.

I beamed. "Thanks!" I felt all warm and fuzzy. Tank's 'good job' was almost as good as Ranger's 'proud of you, Babe.'

I collected the contracts Tank had prepared for me and stopped by to see Lester, as promised, before I left. He must have been on the phone with one of his Stark Street contacts because he was speaking in ghetto.

He motioned towards his chair as he threatened his phone buddy. "I'll bust a cap in yo ass if yo double cross me. Ya dig, bro?"

I grinned at him. Lester was a joker but he was also really smart, so I knew the Lula-speak must have been for a reason.

He threatened the caller a little more before finally hanging up with a growled warning. "Don't fuck with me. Or I be yo worst nightmare."

"Having fun scaring the shit out of gangbangers?" I asked once he'd disconnected.

He just leaned back in his chair and nodded with a grin. "Always fun to play gangsta Lesta," he replied. "So what's up, Beautiful?"

"Tank and Ranger have offered me a job here and I'm trying to decide what to do."

Lester's face froze for a minute. "Temporarily or permanent?" he finally asked. Huh, what was up with that?

"Ranger insists it be permanent but it could be part or full time. Why? What's wrong with that?" I asked.

"Can we talk about it tonight?" he asked. Then he lowered his voice to a whisper. "The walls have ears!"

I burst out laughing at his over the top impression of a super paranoid conspiracy theorist.

"Do you also see dead people?" I whispered back.

He nodded seriously. "Sometimes I make dead people," he deadpanned.

I laughed again. "You should probably try to keep that to a minimum, you know."

He shrugged with a grin. "I'll try. But I'm still too tired to chase down a bad guy, so I'd probably just shoot him and be done with it."

I just grinned at him, shaking my head.

"So I'm off at five," he said. "Can I bring over Pino's and we'll talk about it then?"

"Les, when have I ever turned down Pino's?"

He grinned at me. He knew the answer to that was a resounding never. "So I'll see you around six then?"

"Sounds good. I'll let you get back to your dead people and walls with ears then," I said with a smile. "I have my own bad guys to go threaten."

Lester winked at me as I hauled myself out of his guest chair and left.

I drove by Mooner's house on the way home to check to see if Dougie was back. Turns out he'd just gotten a phone call from a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Dougie had been doing some transportation tasks that were best left unexplained when he'd gotten sick and had stopped at a cheap no-tell motel on the side of the interstate to sleep.

It was the flu, of course, and he'd been delirious for days before a housekeeper had finally gone into his room despite the do not disturb sign and found him. Since he had no ID on him, and he'd registered at the hotel as James T. Kirk and paid cash, he was a John Doe as far as the hospital was concerned. So no one knew who he was until he recovered enough from the bad case of secondary pneumonia that had landed him in the ICU. Seems that living off of crab puffs and marijuana wasn't exactly the best nutritional plan if you're going to catch the flu, and his body hadn't been able to fight it off so he'd ended up way sicker than any of the rest of us.

Even if Ranger says my diet will kill me, I must be doing better than Dougie. I'll take what I can get.

Dougie was recovering now and would be back in a couple of days unless there were any complications. I reminded Mooner to have Dougie call me as soon as he was back to get rebonded before his bond expired and Vinnie showed up to take ownership of the big screen TV in the living room, which had been listed as collateral for the bond.

Mooner looked horrified and I had a feeling he'd turn in Dougie himself before he'd miss out on Gilligan's Island marathons on the big screen. So I wasn't too worried about getting Dougie back in the system. And I was glad to know that my Spidey senses were working. Dougie had been in danger, it was just from a stealthy virus rather than a crazy old lady with a grudge like last time.

I picked up a friend of my grandma's who had been arrested for public nudity. What is it with old men and nakedness? Turning into an old woman already scared the shit out of me, but having to deal with old men made it seem even more horrifying to contemplate.

I got back to my apartment and straightened up a little before Lester came over. I didn't think this was a date and the look on his face had me a little worried that it was going to be a somewhat unpleasant conversation, but the girl in me needed my apartment and me to look good for whatever happened.

Lester showed up a few minutes before six. He had the promised Pino's and I tried to stop myself from ripping the pizza out of his hands and shoveling it in my mouth. It had been a long time since breakfast and I'd been too concerned about food safety to eat the food of dubious origin at Mooner's for lunch.

"Hot damn, Beautiful, you're going to rip my arm off!" Lester said as I gave in and snatched the box from him with a loud moan.

"I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm starving!" I said as I marched over to the coffee table with the pizza box. "Sorry!"

Lester just laughed. "It's nice to hang out with a girl who doesn't pretend like she only needs two lettuce leaves per day," he reassured me.

"Lettuce is not food. Lettuce is the stuff they make you eat before they bring you food."

That just made Lester laugh harder. "I see why things are hard with Ranger then, Beautiful. That man thinks salad is its own food group."

"Isn't the Army supposed to screen out crazy people?" I asked as he sat next to me and snagged a slice of pizza.

He just laughed and shook his head. "When he joined the Army, he ate normal people food."

"So what happened to him?" I asked, knowing that Lester was Ranger's cousin and probably had more insight into his deplorable eating habits.

He just shrugged. "Long story, and not mine to tell."

I nodded reluctantly, my curiosity making me slightly nuts. We made small talk while we finished off the entire pizza.

I finally took the bull by the horns, so to speak. "So you want to tell me why your face froze back at Haywood?"

He sighed. "First, are you going to work at RangeMan permanently?"

I shrugged. "Not sure yet, but it's looking like a pretty good option. I'm getting pretty damn tired of rolling around in the garbage chasing skips for Vinnie. And I'm good at administration and that sort of thing, and seems like you guys need someone who can do that sort of thing. Apparently Tank hates doing payroll."

Lester just snorted. "You're not kidding! I have to listen to him bitch about entering payroll every single week. You're also the best at searches. So as long as you don't blow up the building, it would be nice to have you around."

"There's a but in there," I told him. "I can feel it."

He sighed again. "But if you're going to work there permanently, I'm not sure whether we should be dating," he said in a rush.

I just nodded. I'd thought the same thing.

"You're great, Stephanie," he rushed to reassure me. "Really great. And I think I could really fall for you if I just let myself. But that might not be a good idea if we're working together all the time. You know?" he said anxiously.

"I know. I thought about the same thing once Ranger asked, okay, demanded, that I come to RangeMan and do the payroll and searches and stuff. I really like you too and I think I could fall for you too. But as screwed up as things already are with Ranger, would it be a good idea to run the risk of bad feelings with you too if things didn't work out?"

Lester looked both relieved and sad at the same time. "I want you to do what's best for you professionally but it just sucks that we didn't try to get together sooner. If we'd been dating for a while before you started working there, that would be one thing. But to really just start seeing each other when you start the job… well, that could be awkward."

"Yeah," I agreed. "The timing sucks."

Lester grinned at me. "Of course, I could be persuaded otherwise if you've already fallen for the legendary Santos charm."

I rolled my eyes at him. "I've managed to restrain myself so far."

"Damn. I should have tried harder."

I laughed. "Wait, are you trying to convince me we should just be friends or that we shouldn't?" I said with a smile.

"My head says we should just be friends," he said.

"I'm so not going to ask about the rest of you," I said with a wry smile.

He shot me a killer grin. "You sure? I'm good at show and tell."

I burst out laughing again. He always made me laugh. Why oh why couldn't we have started dating earlier? Or my decision to stop being a bounty hunting joke wait a few more weeks or months?

"Beautiful?" he asked.

I was caught up in my musings and hadn't answered. "I'm ignoring that comment."

He just grinned at me. "I like you. I like you a lot. And we're going to be good friends and we're going to hang out frequently."

"Bossy, aren't you?"

"Well, I am part owner of RangeMan so I would be your boss," he said with another big grin.

I snorted. "Yeah right. Ask your cousin about how well it works to tell me what to do."

Lester just chuckled. "Yeah, I've seen how well that works. But I'm way more persuasive than he is, so I'm sure I can find a way to make you want to hang out with me."

I smiled at him. "You're fun and I like you. So I already want to hang out with you."

"See how persuasive I am?"

I grinned. "It's truly astounding."

"Thank you. Thank you very much."

I snorted. "You're welcome, Elvis."

Lester wrapped one arm around my shoulders. "I'm glad we're on the same page with this. I was worried you'd hate me."

"Me too. I don't hate you. I'm typically not big on hate, but I am big on revenge. Keep that in mind for future reference. I'm sorry we won't get to go out dancing though, learning to salsa was a lot of fun!"

"I can still teach you to dance," he offered. "Friends can dance together, right?"

I shrugged. "I don't have a lot of guys friends outside of the Merry Men and former skips, so this is kind of new for me."

He grinned at me. "Friends can go dancing together," he said in a very decisive tone.

I shot him a grin and a half-assed salute. "Sir, yes sir!"

He shook his head at me and grinned before settling back against the couch. "We'll let the pizza digest a little and then I'll teach you the mambo."

I groaned. "My stomach is way too full for any kind of movement!"

"That's why we'll let it settle first."

"So you're planning to move in, then? Because I ate so much it will take days to settle!"

He just shook his head. "Probably I shouldn't move in if we're going to stay just friends, Beautiful. You're too damn hot for any straight man to live with and not go crazy if he can't do anything."

I was trying to decide whether that was a compliment or if I should be insulted when he just laughed and grabbed the remote control. He turned on the TV and channel surfed until he found a Vin Diesel blow 'em up movie.

Lester spent the next almost two hours loudly explaining what Vin Diesel and his cronies did wrong. "Holy hell, there's no way they could infiltrate a compound like that! Where the fuck is the sniper support? And who in the name of God belly crawls half a mile on fucking cobblestones just for the hell of it?"

"Lester, shut up! You're ruining my eye candy," I complained.

"Eye candy, my ass! These so called commandos are even worse than you are at being sneaky!"

"Hey!" I retorted. "I'm plenty sneaky!"

He snorted so I drove my elbow into his ribs. His breath whooshed out as he laughed. "Damn, Beautiful, that hurt!"

"Then keep your damn mouth shut about my skills!"

He leaned against me with an adorable grin. "Want to show me some of your other skills, Beautiful?" he whispered in my ear. I had to suppress a shudder as his warm breath washed across my sensitive ear.

I stared at him for a minute before elbowing him again. He blocked me this time. "What the hell happened to just being friends?"

He looked surprised for a moment. "Sorry! It was a reflex!"

"You lied to me," I said accusingly, trying to keep from grinning.

"I've never lied to you!" he replied indignantly.

"You said you weren't really a player. How the hell do you justify hitting on me with "reflex" if you aren't a player?"

His eyes widened. He was trapped and he knew it.

"If any woman in all of the world was going to make me reform, it would be you, Beautiful!" he finally replied dramatically. "The gods must hate us to keep us apart!"

I burst out laughing. "Nice try, but no cigar."

He shrugged and grinned. "Worth a shot."

"You are such a player," I told him.

"Don't hate the player, hate the game!"

I snorted. "No, I can hate the player just fine, thank you very much. Me working at RangeMan may have saved you from a slow and painful death if you ever tried to play me."

Lester turned my chin so I had to look at him and he looked uncharacteristically serious. "Beautiful, I would never play you, no matter what."

My gaze softened. "Thanks, Les."

Then his grin returned as his green eyes twinkled. "Plus, I heard what you did to Morelli with your Buick."

"He deserved it!"

Lester kissed my forehead. "What me to get rid of him for you?"

I laughed. "I think the broken leg was sufficient punishment, thanks. And no more making dead people!"

Lester had laughed at that and we'd gone back to watching the movie.

We'd finished the movie and then Lester had tried to convince me to learn the mambo but I begged for a raincheck. "Nooooo, too tired to learn a new dance!" I'd moaned as he physically picked me up off the couch. "Please!"

He just laughed. "Fine, but you're going out with a bunch of us on Friday night then. We'll teach you to dance."

I glared at him. "I do know how to dance, you know, I just don't know all these Latin dances! But I can waltz your ass off, Santos!"

He leaned in and kissed the top of my head. "Not sure this particular dance club does the waltz, Beautiful."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I know how to dance," I insisted.

He grinned at me and heaven help me, but I was having a hard time remembering why we were going to stay friends with his gorgeous green eyes dancing and his dimples flashing in the low light of my apartment. The man was hot.

"You're a great dancer," he chuckled, "but I'd enjoy teaching you some more of the Latin dances I grew up with. That better?"

I unbent enough to smile. "Much better."

I followed him to the front door, enjoying the view, and stopped at the edge of the door as he opened my door and instinctively checked for anyone loitering outside. "You want to meet me and Bobby for lunch tomorrow and talk about your options for working at RangeMan?" he asked as he surveyed the empty hallway with alert eyes.

"Depends. Where at?"

"Pino's?"

"I'm in!"

Lester grinned at me. "See you at noon," he said as he kissed my forehead. "You're a fun date."

I stepped back and smiled my sex kitten smile, determined to get him back for the reflex comment. "You have no idea," I purred as I closed the door in his face.

There was a moment of silence before he started laughing. "Not fair, Beautiful!"

"It was a reflex!" I retorted through the closed and now locked door.

He just laughed harder. "I'll get you back for this," he promised.

"Bring it, Santos," I told him. "But first, I need a shower. I feel… dirty."

"Holy hell, Beautiful! Let me back in! We have to renegotiate this whole staying friends thing!"

I just grinned silently at the door. "Beautiful?" he asked.

I didn't say anything.

"Ah hell, she's going to be the death of me," he muttered.

I couldn't resist saying something after that. "But what a way to go!"

"Stephanie!" he laughed. "Let me in!"

No way! If he turned those bedroom eyes on me, odds were good the whole staying friends thing would fly out the window. "Bye bye, Santos. Time for my shower."

"Oh mother of God, you're an evil woman," he muttered but I heard him walking away. I peeked out the peephole to see him walking a little funny. Heh. I did a little happy dance that I'd won. I did stack some pots and pans in front of the door just in case he came back to get his revenge and headed off to the shower. The shower massager might be getting a workout tonight.

_**Author's note: **__Thank you all for the reviews and for following along!_

_I've gotten some feedback that Stephanie is being too whiny or bitchy, so I'd like to share my take on the Plum-verse. For years now, Steph's been told that Ranger doesn't do relationships and all that BS, so she believes it. But she's really making an honest effort to improve her life and Ranger doing his normal things, like kissing her senseless, doesn't really help her to move on. So while she absolutely knows that he cares about her, and that she cares about him, she's ready for a relationship that is based on more than just sexual attraction and friendship. She wants the whole shebang, and she knows that Ranger can't give her that. So I don't view it was whiny, I see it as self-defense. But it's so great to know that you are invested enough in my story to write and tell me what you think! Keep it coming!_

_I'm having some health woes right now and the doctors don't know what's wrong with me yet. So I'm wearing a heart monitor for the next 30 days to see if they can get a handle on why my heart wants to race constantly. But until they know what's causing the tachycardia, they can't give me anything for it (or the symptoms and side effects, like crushing fatigue). So I'll do my best to keep posting regularly but please forgive me if I'm a bit late. Any cardiologists in the Plum-verse fandom should feel free to call! _

_Please review, they make me smile! _


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

I got up the next morning and got ready to head to the bond office. I was torn. I really loved working with Connie and Lula, not so much Vinnie, and I hated the thought that I wouldn't see them that often if I left to work for RangeMan full time. But I was getting really sick of getting my ass kicked by old men and rolling in the garbage. Maybe it was time for a career shift.

Connie didn't have any new files for me. That was another point in favor of RangeMan. Regardless of whether there are any lower-level skips, I would still get paid. So poor Rex would be fed regardless of whether Dougie and Mooner were too high to remember their court date.

I hung out until it was time to head over to eat lunch with Lester and Bobby. I was a little nervous about seeing Lester again after I'd teased him last night, but I figured he'd be a good sport about it. He would probably just make it his mission in life to make me blush as many times as possible during lunch.

I walked in a few minutes til noon and found Lester and Bobby already occupying the back table, of course.

They both stood up as I approached. Such gentlemen.

"Hey guys!" I said with a grin. Then I utterly shocked the hell out of Bobby when I hugged him and kissed his cheek. "You look like you're feeling better."

Bobby just looked at me in shock. "Um, yeah, Bomber," he said as he turned to Lester with his eyebrows halfway up his forehead.

I laughed at the look of shock on his face. Lester stuck out his face so I could kiss his cheek too. "I want a kiss too!" he demanded.

"What makes you think you earned a kiss?" I asked as I stepped behind Bobby to get away from Lester.

His grin turned sexy and devious. Gulp! "Just give me a chance, Beautiful, and I'll definitely earn it!" he said in a sultry bedroom voice.

I rolled my eyes. "No way!"

Bobby was watching us with a growing grin on his face. "She likes me better than you," he told Lester with a smug grin.

I sat down next to Bobby. I grinned at him and patted his shoulder as he sat down. "Thanks for taking such good care of me of when I was sick, Bobby," I told him.

"You're welcome, but it's my job."

I shrugged. "Still. You're a good friend, so thanks."

He grinned at me. Holy heck, but I either needed to get laid or stop hanging out with such hot guys. "You took good care of me, too," he said as he leaned over and kissed my cheek. "So thank you too."

"You're welcome."

"Can I interrupt this love fest long enough to ask what the hell you're talking about?" Lester asked, looking annoyed to not know what we were talking about.

"Even though she was still recovering, Steph came down while everyone was out of it and let me get a couple of hours of sleep. Good thing too, I was pretty much at the end of my endurance and that was the only thing that kept me from shooting your cranky ass when you got all whiney about being sick. Got all the searches done that Tank had asked me to do too."

"Guess that's why Tank and Ranger want you to come work with us permanently," Lester said with a grin of understanding.

Bobby nearly gave himself whiplash turning his head so fast to look at me. "Permanently? Really?"

I just nodded, smiling at his reaction. Bobby beamed. "Finally!"

I blinked at him. "What?"

Bobby and Lester both grinned at me. "You keep things interesting around the place. Plus you're the best researcher we've got. You'd give Silvio in Miami a run for his money, too, I bet," Bobby said.

I nibbled on my lip but the waitress came over then to get our order. Yeah, like that was a hard choice. "Meatball sub, extra sauce, fries and a Coke," I said without so much as glancing at the menu.

Lester and Bobby just grinned at me. But they can't say much, they both ordered unhealthy stuff too. I guess while the cat's away, the mice will play. And without Ranger there to threaten them, the guys were going to eat the good stuff.

"How the hell do you stay looking so good eating like you do?" Lester asked with a grin, knowing I'd eaten half of a large pizza the night before.

"Good genes and a Hungarian metabolism," I said with a grin. "My mom and grandma both eat a lot of a crap that would horrify Ranger but they've never had major weight problems."

"Didn't your sister balloon up to an epic size?" Lester asked to burst my bubble.

"With her third pregnancy, yeah. But since I don't plan on ever being pregnant, hopefully I'll dodge that bullet."

"You really don't want kids?" Bobby asked me.

"They scare the shit out of me."

Bobby just laughed. "Me, too," he confided. "I was completely freaked out when I had to do the pediatric rotation in my physician assistant program."

"That's why I'm just a hamster mommy. Rex has so far never managed to shove an Army man up his nose, but I can't remember how many times Mary Lou's boys have had to go to the ER to get some weird thing removed from various body parts."

Bobby laughed, his whole face lighting up. Hot damn, but he was hot! "If Rex does ever get an Army man up his nose, please take a picture."

I grinned and promised I would.

"So, about coming to work with us," Lester said a minute later. "You still thinking about it?"

"Thinking about it."

"You should do it!" Bobby said enthusiastically.

I shrugged. "I'm still thinking about it. It would be much more stable income and it would be nice to not have to mooch dinner from my mom every week to make ends meet. Plus I'm getting pretty tired of being such a huge disappointment to everyone."

Bobby looked incredibly pissed. "Who the fuck says you're a disappointment?" he asked in a badass 'answer me before I go all Hulk on you and rip your arms off' voice.

I blinked at him. "My mom and Joe, mostly."

His eyes narrowed. "I think we need to have a talk with Detective Morelli," Bobby said.

"Nah, he knows we're done now and he's pretty much avoiding me as much as I avoid him. And not being told I'm a screw up on a regular basis is actually doing wonders for my self-esteem!" I tried to joke.

That seemed to make things worse since Bobby looked even more pissed and even Lester was looking rather unhappy with Joe.

"Guys, it's fine. I already told Joe to take a long walk off a short pier," I told them.

Lester grinned but Bobby leaned forward and grabbed my hand. "You are not a disappointment. You are not a screw up. You might go about it a different way, but you always get your man."

I smiled at Bobby. "Thanks."

He smiled back, finally relaxing a little. "You're welcome. Come and work with us and let us teach you some moves. You'll be kick ass in no time."

I grinned at him. "Brown, I already got moves like you wouldn't believe."

Lester groaned and Bobby laughed. "Yeah, I think your self-esteem is definitely improving," Bobby said.

I just winked at him, making him laugh again.

"So, you going to come on full time or part time?" Lester asked once Bobby got his laughter under control.

"I haven't decided yet. I'd hate to leave Vinnie in the lurch with the low and medium skips if I quit completely, but I'm getting really tired of rolling around in garbage. I like doing administrative stuff and I'm pretty good at it. But working with you guys, I could still go out sometimes and help with stuff, right?"

"Yeah," Lester responded. "But you'd have an actual partner, someone with skills beyond just sitting on the skip."

"Hey, Lula's a good friend!"

"Yeah, she is, but she's not been such great backup for you. Hell, half the time I was afraid she'd shoot you instead of the skip!" Bobby said.

I couldn't argue. I worried about that too.

"Did Ranger discuss salary and benefits with you?" Bobby asked.

I shook my head no. "But Tank gave me two contracts, one for part-time and one for full-time. It's way too much money!"

Lester grinned at me. "Beautiful, the RangeMan philosophy is to pay people what they're worth, not to hire the cheapest person we can find. We all make good money. And Bobby and I are both partners with Tank and Ranger, and trust us when we say that we're sure it's not too much," Lester said. Bobby just nodded.

"Plus you get us, and that's one hell of a benefit, Beautiful," Lester add with a smirk and waggling eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Why didn't they talk to you about hiring me if you're partners?" I asked.

Lester grinned. "Probably because we've been hounding Ranger for a long time to bring you in permanently. So it's not like we'd argue or anything."

"Really? You have?" They both nodded. "Why? I'm a disaster!"

Bobby glared at me for that. "You're not a disaster, just exciting. You're fun to be around and you keep us on our toes. Not all the guys are comfortable around women and sometimes I think you're the only woman who doesn't terrify half the guys. It's good for them to see that there are women out there who wouldn't be scared to death of them, maybe convince them to be open to dating."

I looked at Bobby for a minute. "Psych rotation?" I finally asked.

He laughed but nodded.

"It also would be a good strategic plan to have a woman, other than Ella, on staff. Sometimes having two giant guys in black doing surveillance makes us stand out like sore thumbs, but a couple out for a walk wouldn't attract as much attention. Plus you can sure distract the hell out of skips and get a guy out of a bar faster than anyone I've ever seen before," Lester said.

"So you guys had used other women as distractions before?"

Bobby nodded. "Talk about disasters! Holy hell, I thought Ranger was going to strangle them, especially the one and only time we tried working with Jeanne Ellen. We stopped trying to do distractions after that until you popped up. You're the best at them, Bomber. I don't know how you do it since we know you're not slutty like that normally, but it's amazing to watch."

"I call it being sex kitten Stephanie," I admitted. "It's like being an actress. I'm not really me anymore once I head into the bar or whatever."

Lester grinned at me. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty," he called.

"Aww, poor Les. Lost your pussy… cat?" Bobby busted out laughing and Lester did too after looking shocked for a few seconds.

"Increased self-esteem Steph is fun," Lester told me

I grinned. "You implying that poor self-esteem Steph wasn't fun?"

Lester smiled charmingly at me. "Not at all," he said. "But this Steph is fun too! I'd really like to chat a little with sex kitten Stephanie too, though."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Good luck with that."

Our food came them and we all thoroughly enjoyed the heart attack inducing meal. Bobby got a page that one of the guys needed a couple of stitches to close up a minor cut from sparring, so they had to leave.

"You'd be great at RangeMan, Bomber," Bobby said as he headed towards the RangeMan SUV to call the control room for more details. "You should do it."

Lester stayed behind another minute while Bobby was on the phone. "You're an evil woman, Plum," he said as he wrapped one arm around my shoulder. "Did you have a fun shower last night?"

"Oh yesssss," I purred. He groaned.

"I haven't had this much fun in a while," he said with a grin.

"Then your social life sucks as much as mine."

Lester laughed. "I could take care of that for you," he offered in a sultry tone.

"Really?" I asked in an excited voice.

His brows lowered slightly. "Absolutely. But I thought we decided…" he trailed off looking adorably confused.

"I'd love to meet some of your single but open to relationships non-RangeMan but still smoking hot friends!" I told him.

He blinked at me for a few seconds before shooting me a megawatt smile and shaking his head. "I don't think any of my non-Special Forces trained buddies could keep up with you!"

I shrugged. "Maybe not, but would it hurt to let them try?"

He just chuckled and kissed the top of my head. "Come dancing with us on Friday night and maybe you'll pick up some new stalkers."

"Don't even joke about that!"

He just laughed and then took off at a jog as Bobby honked the horn impatiently. "I'll call you tonight!" he yelled back at me. I enjoyed watching him run away in his tight cargos. Yum. We may have decided to just stay friends, but that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy the view. I mean, a girl has to take what she can get.

I went home and flopped into my thinking position for a while. I had no outstanding skips and at least as of this morning, no new ones to be chasing down. I was strongly considering accepting the full-time position with RangeMan but I wasn't entirely sure about it yet.

So I called Mary Lou and headed over to her house while the boys were at school and Maggie was napping. I told Mary Lou about the fight with Ranger and everything since then. She pretty much knew the rest of the story.

She glanced longingly at the butcher block full of sharp and pointy knives and I figured it was a good thing that Ranger wasn't here. "I think you should do it," she finally said.

"You do?" I was surprised. I figured she'd tell me to stay ten miles away from Ranger at all times from now on.

"Yeah. I could tell you were getting really tired of working for Vinnie, because, my God, who wouldn't? You were always really good at solving puzzles and it sounds like a lot of the research stuff would be exactly like that. Plus I know you liked your job at E.E. Martin and your classes on business and stuff. But you'd get bored sitting behind a desk all the time again. So I think this is about the only job that won't make you want to shoot yourself inside a month. So I think you should take it."

Wow. "What about Ranger?"

She shrugged and looked at the knives again. Yeah, it's definitely a good thing Ranger wasn't here. "Tell him to keep it professional or take Tank up on his offer to kick his ass. Sounds like Lester would also help change Ranger's attitude too. My God, I can't believe you went out with him and then agreed to just stay friends with Lester Santos. The man is hot!"

I had to grin. "We'll stay friends but it's fun to have someone to flirt with like crazy and know it won't go anywhere."

She looked at me and shook her head. "It's great to see you back, Steph," she said.

Color me confused. "Huh? I haven't gone anywhere."

"Maybe not physically, but you weren't the same Stephanie I knew either. I think your mom and Joe convinced you that you were a failure and kind of broke your spirit. But it's coming back now and you're going to be hell on wheels once the men of Trenton realize you're on the market!" she told me.

"Was I really that bad?"

Mary Lou just nodded. "It was getting pretty bad. Did you know I actually had words with your mom in the grocery store a couple of months ago about this?"

My jaw dropped open. Mrs. Junior 'Burg had words with my mom in the grocery store? What. The. Hell?

Mary Lou laughed at the expression on my face. "She was complaining that she didn't know why you couldn't be like me and settle down to be a wife and mother. I'd been up all night with Maggie teething and I was PMS-ing like you wouldn't believe, so I went off on her. I figured she would have told you about how I was such a crazy bitch."

"No. Spill it!"

Mary Lou just laughed. "I just reminded your mom that you'd never been like most of the 'Burg girls. I mean, you jumped off the roof trying to fly, for crying out loud! But that you'd gone from being this sassy, fun girl to this borderline depressed woman and that I figured most of it was because of her and Joe being on you all the time about not living the life they wanted for you. So then I asked her what she would do if someone demanded that she divorce your dad and start being a bounty hunter, would she really like being told that her life was pointless and stupid? Then I walked off and left her there staring at me. God, Steph, her mouth was flapping like a goldfish!"

I laughed because Mary Lou expected it, but my brain was going at warp speed. "Holy shit, Mare, I can't believe you did that!"

She just shrugged. "Honestly, neither can I. I'd wanted to say it for a long, long time, but I hadn't. Your mom just picked the wrong day to bitch at me about you. You're my best friend, always have been, and it just set me off to hear her talking about you like that."

I sat there in silence, thinking furiously, for so long that Mary Lou finally got up and started washing dishes. I jumped about a foot when she sat a plate of cookies and a cup of coffee with cream and sugar in front of me.

"You're the best friend a girl could ever have, did you know that?" I said with a smile as I took a cookie. "And my God, but you make the best chocolate chip cookies ever!"

Mary Lou grinned and took a cookie for herself.

"It make sense now," I mused aloud. "Mom's been off my back the last month or two, and I figured she'd just given up on me ever getting married since I'd dumped Joe. But really, it was you! You're my hero!" I started to applaud.

Mary Lou laughed as she stood up and curtseyed.

I stared at her in awe. I was usually too scared of my mom to say much to her, but apparently Mary Lou had my back.

I munched on cookies for a while. You'd think I wouldn't be hungry after Pino's with Lester and Bobby, but the emotional overload made me hungry.

"Mare, was I really that bad?" I asked. "Was I really borderline depressed?"

Mary Lou sucked in a deep breath. Oh shit, this was bad.

"Yeah, Steph, I think you were. I mean, I just heard a lot of stuff that Morelli and your mom said second handed from what your grandma said or stuff like that. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't just shoot one or both of them for treating you like that! But between the two of them, two people who are supposed to have your best interests at heart and look out for you, they really spent a lot of time telling you how terrible you were. They just kind of beat you down."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I couldn't figure out how to say anything without it seeming like I was trashing you too. And the last thing I wanted was for you to feel like everyone was against you," she said.

"Wow."

"As big of an ass as Ranger's been about some things, he was there to say that he was proud of you, to help you without telling you that you were stupid or incompetent or something. So I can't completely hate him."

I nodded slowly, so she continued. "I tried to just be here if you needed me, but I couldn't help with bounty hunting stuff. And as much I was wanted to kill your mom and Joe, I couldn't leave the kids without a mom while I was in prison!"

I grinned. "Lenny would kill me if you did that, so good call!"

We shifted the subject to less emotional topics for a while until it was almost time for the boys to come home from school. I didn't think I was up for the uncontrolled chaos that would inevitably be, so I decided to leave.

"Thanks for everything, Mare. I still can't believe you took on my mom like that, but thanks for caring about me that much," I said as I hugged her.

She hugged me back. "You're welcome. And I'm glad the real Steph is back."

I blinked back the tears in my eyes and left before I started bawling like a baby. Given that Mary Lou had a real baby to keep up with, she didn't need me losing it all over her front porch.

I went home and crashed on the couch in shock. I was still sitting there thinking when I heard my phone start playing Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back".

"Hello?" I asked curiously since the caller ID read simply "Super Sexy" and I had no clue who that was.

"Hey, Beautiful!" Lester said.

"Lester! When did you screw with my phone?" I asked him with a smile.

I could hear the grin in his voice. "When you went to the bathroom last night. I thought I'd make sure my info was listed correctly."

"You're a trip."

"What's wrong?" he asked suspiciously.

"What?" 

"Your voice doesn't sound right. Sounds like you've been crying. Are you okay?" he asked. Damn, he's good.

I sighed.

"Morelli?" Lester asked in a pissy tone.

"No! Well, sorta, but it's not anything new."

"Bobby and I can take care of him for you," Lester offered in a tight voice.

"No, it's fine. I haven't even talked to him. Just some stuff that Mary Lou said after lunch today."

"What did she say?" he asked, curiosity evident in his voice.

I sighed again. "I don't really know how to explain it all."

There was a few seconds of silence. "No problem. I'll bring beer, that always makes it easier to explain things. See you soon!"

"Les!" I tried but it was too late. He'd already hung up.

He was at my apartment less than twenty minutes later, a six pack of Dos Equis in one hand and a bag from Taco Bell in the other. Why was I just staying friends with him again?

I let him in and he stopped to kiss my cheek as he walked into the kitchen with his precious cargo. "Here ya go," he said as he popped the cap off of one of the beers and handed it to me. "Start drinking then start talking."

"You really are bossy sometimes."

"I'm a big enough badass that most people don't argue," he said with a grin. He might be a badass but he was also a friend.

"I'm not most people."

He snorted. "No shit! We terrify most people but you've always just treated us like people."

I shot him a confused look. "Are you telling me you're an alien or something? Because otherwise, you are just a person."

He grinned. "You don't treat us like you're terrified of us or that we're just walking wallets or sex toys. Although I could get on board with the sex toy thing," he said with a mock leer. "And that's pretty rare, even with our families."

I rolled my eyes at the sex toy comment.

"So tell Uncle Lester what's going on," he ordered as he handed me a taco and pushed me towards the couch.

"You can't joke about being a sex toy and Uncle Lester in the same breath. That's just wrong!"

He rolled his eyes and I laughed. "Okay, then, tell your buddy Lester about it."

"That's better!" I told him. Then I recounted my conversation with Mary Lou. Lester was stunned.

"So this new and improved, more self-confident Stephanie is really the old Stephanie before your mom and Morelli tore down your self-esteem?" he asked.

"I guess. I mean, I was pretty flirty and outgoing until after everything blew up with The Dick. And after that, it seemed that nothing I ever did made my mom happy and she was always on me about something. And then I hooked back up with Joe and he was always telling me how I was giving him an ulcer and shit like that. So if Mare is right, that kind of broke me down until I basically wasn't me anymore."

Lester took a couple of deep breaths. "Are you okay?" I asked in concern.

He turned to me with the blank mask that I hated so much on his face. "Les?" I asked again. "Did I do something wrong?"

The blank mask melted away as he pulled me into a hug. "You didn't do anything wrong, Beautiful. I'm just angry that your mom and Morelli crushed your spirit that much. Makes me want to crush Morelli's balls!"

Eww, crushed balls, not a good mental image.

"My moral code won't let me beat up a woman except in self-defense, but I could definitely beat the hell out of Morelli without a second thought!"

I leaned back against his chest. "I've been thinking about this all afternoon. I don't think my mom or Joe ever realized how much it hurt me. They just both wanted me to be happy and they both thought the only way I'd be happy was to be a clone of my mom. But they just couldn't understand that it wouldn't make me happy."

Lester just shook his head. "You have to be the most forgiving woman I've ever met, Beautiful."

I shook my head. "No way! Ask Joe and Dickie about how forgiving I am."

Lester just grinned. "That's the woman scorned. But you sat here today and tried to come up with ways to make how your mom and Morelli treated you to not be pure selfishness and bitchiness on their parts. And that's pretty damn forgiving."

I had nothing I could say to that, so I snagged a burrito and ate that. Lester must have picked up on my mood. "Ready for your second Spanish lesson?"

I nodded. "Why not?"

So he spent the next hour or so walking around my apartment and telling me the Spanish names for everything. When he offered to teach me the Spanish names for all of my body parts with that wicked grin of his, I kicked him out.

"How do you say 'in your dreams' in Spanish?" I asked as I herded him towards the door. He told me but he was laughing so hard that I couldn't understand him.

"Thanks for hanging out, Les," I said as I hugged him at the door. "It helped a lot."

He kissed my forehead. "Happy to help, Beautiful."

"I think I'm going to do it," I said suddenly, stopping Lester in his tracks as he walked out the door.

"What?" he asked. "Or who?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Work with you guys. I think I want to. I don't want to be the joke any more and you guys have never treated me like I was a loser."

"Because you aren't a loser, you never have been," he said as he turned and pulled me into his arms again. "And we'd love to have you at RangeMan permanently."

"I'll come talk to Tank about it tomorrow then."

"Full or part time?" Lester wanted to know.

"Probably full. I really am tired of living week to week, of praying for people to skip court so I can feed my hamster. And I'm just tired of chasing skips all of the time. And why the heck did I spend a freaking ton of money on college if I'm never going to use any of it?"

Lester just chuckled. "We'll certainly make you use all your business school shit! Tank's going to be offloading stuff on you like you wouldn't believe!"

"You think?" I asked.

He snorted. "I know it."

His eyes softened then. "I'm proud of you, Steph," he said. "You're changing your life around, personal and professional, and I'm damn proud of you. Everyone will be."

Something about these big guys telling me they were proud of me completely melted my heart. It's like the Borg, resistance was futile. I fought back the tears and he kissed my nose.

"I'm on a stake out until twelve, so don't you dare leave the office until I'm back."

"Okay. I think tomorrow might be a sleep in kind of day, so I'll make sure to see you tomorrow afternoon."

"Good," he said as he left. "See you tomorrow then, Beautiful. I'll tell Tank to expect you around noon."

Then he was gone.

_**Author's note:**__ Thanks for your warm responses about my heart issues. I'll be honest, it's pretty scary, but the first round of tests came back and they were normal. That's a big relief since I have just enough medical knowledge from working in hospitals in high school and college to come up with all kinds of plausible nightmare scenarios. Keep your fingers crossed that it's something benign and easy to treat!_

_Thank you also for the reviews and private messages! Even the ones taking me to task for Stephanie's new attitude make me smile because I know that you're interested enough in the story to take your time to write to me. So thanks! I'll try to respond individually as soon as I can, but with the fatigue and working on my dissertation, I don't have much free time currently. But please do know that those messages make my day and they make me smile. Keep 'em coming!_

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much I did writing it._


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9**_

I did sleep in the next day, mostly because I'd finished off the beer and the Taco Bell after he left and it took me forever to go to sleep after that.

I beeped my way into the garage shortly before noon. I was dressed in a black skirt with a stretch scoop neck white t-shirt and a cropped black blazer and medium black heels. I wanted to feel professional when I spoke with Tank.

"Hey Tank," I said as I knocked on his door.

"Stephanie," he said. Then his eyes widened as he took in my outfit. "Did someone die or is this for us?"

I laughed. "Thought it would help to look professional if I was trying to act professional with you guys."

He stood up and walked over to me. "You look very nice," he said as he closed the door. "I'm guessing we need to have a professional conversation now?"

"Yeah, if you have the time."

He gestured towards the couch and I sat down. "So you made a decision?"

I sucked in a deep breath. "Yeah. I would like to work here full-time."

"You read the contract?" he asked. "And you agree to all of the conditions in it?"

"Yeah."

He grinned at me, his white teeth flashing. "Then welcome to RangeMan."

I grinned back at him and we got down to business. By the end of our marathon business meeting, I'd signed the contract. I'd give Vinnie notice and RangeMan would pick up my normal lower-end skips for a few weeks until Vinnie found someone else. As much as Vinnie is scum, he had given me a job when I needed it, even though it was due to blackmail on my part, so I felt better that I wouldn't be completely leaving him in the lurch.

Since there were no apartments currently available on four, I didn't have to decide about moving in yet. Personnel would be offered available apartments based on seniority and the needs of the company as apartments opened up, so I didn't have to make a definitive decision about it for a while. I'd missed the clause in the contract that gave me a signing bonus for an apartment if there wasn't one available in the building, and Tank gave me a list of buildings in the area secured by RangeMan.

"Can I keep my current apartment? Just until we know for sure that this will work out okay for everyone?" I asked nervously.

"It's within the 15 minute commute, so yes. But if you have doubts, I need to know about them," Tank replied.

"Well, of course I have doubts! This is me we're talking about. I've blown up more cars and collected more crazies than I can count. I'm ready for a change, to move on to working with you guys, but I don't think that working here will magically make me immune from craziness."

Tank grinned. "The garage is secure so hopefully that will limit how frequently your cars blow up. Plus you'll be training in self-defense and working on your conditioning and gun skills, so that should help you deal with any crazies. Plus we'll have your back if anyone does come after you again."

I shot him an amused look. "You guys have had my back for years now but I still seem to find the crazy people."

He shook his head. "We'll try to work on those skills too."

"You guys have a class on how to not attract crazy people? Why didn't someone enroll me in that earlier?" I asked in mock amazement.

Tank leaned back in his chair and studied me for a minute. "Santos and Brown said you were different now. I didn't believe them, but I do now. What happened?"

I sat back and grinned at him. "I dumped Joe, which took one source of 'Stephanie, you're giving me ulcers!' from my life. And my best friend Mary Lou gave my mom hell about giving me hell, so mom's been off my back lately too. And not being told I'm a joke and a disappointment all the time has helped my self-esteem to bounce back."

Tank shook his head. "Ranger isn't going to know how to deal with you when he gets back."

I grinned. "And won't that be fun!"

Tank just shook his head and chuckled softly. "Yeah, it should be fun for us at least."

Then he turned serious again. "We usually have new people spend a month on the floor getting to know the other guys and how we work, but you've been around enough that I don't think you'll need a full month. So we'll start with two weeks and see how you're doing then. You'll also be doing intensive conditioning and training with Brown."

I groaned at that and Tank flashed me a quick smile.

"What do you think about Cal?" he asked.

"He seems cool. Scared the hell out of my mom when Val was in labor with Lisa, so he's okay in my book."

"Do you think you could partner with him?"

I shrugged. "I don't know him well enough to say yes or no, but I get along most of the guys okay. So I'm willing to try it if he is."

"I already asked him when Santos said you were coming in. I'd never seen him smile so big before, so I think he's willing to try."

After the first two weeks, Tank would add me to the regular rotation if we both agreed I was ready for that. Until then, I'd be working with the guys to learn the things that I didn't already know about the security industry, which would fill the Encyclopedia Britannica. And Bobby would be whipping my ass into shape. That part I was not looking forward to.

Tank walked out to the control room with me and cleared his throat loudly. Heads started popping up over the cubicle walls and Bobby and Lester ambled out of their offices with big grins on their faces. I guess Lester had told Bobby I was coming on full time.

"Gentlemen," Tank said. "Stephanie has just agreed to work with us full time and permanently."

Lester let loose a Tarzan yell and grabbed me in a big hug before spinning me around. "Welcome to the crazy house, Beautiful!" he yelled.

Then it was noisy and chaotic as the other guys came up to get a hug or to slap me on the back. I felt sure I'd have a giant bruise on my back tomorrow, but it was worth it to have all these big scary guys so happy to have me joining them.

"I volunteer to be her partner!" Binkie yelled.

Cal shoved him. "I'm her partner, man!"

"Damn it man, why you?" Zero whined. He actually whined. It was astounding.

"'Cause I am just that damn good," Cal said smugly, shooting a grin and a wink at me. "Only the best for the bombshell."

Lester started laughing at the posturing between them.

Tank spoke again. "She'll spend the next two weeks getting acclimated. Since she's worked here on and off before, we won't do the full month unless we think she needs it. So Brown will be working on her with conditioning, Santos with self-defense, Cal on arms and the rest of you will work with her on your special skill sets over the next several weeks and months. Any questions?"

There were none, so Tank told everyone to get back to work. They did reluctantly. It left me feeling so warm and fuzzy that they were excited to have me join them.

Then Bobby and Lester drug me and Cal down to the gym. Oh hell, so it begins.

* * *

><p>The next two weeks nearly kicked my ass. Literally. Bobby had me running five days a week, lifting weights two days a week and doing core workouts three days a week. He was trying to kill me, I was sure of it.<p>

Lester also had me doing self-defense training five days a week. Since this mostly consisted of me trying to stay out of Lester's arms at first, I was doing a hell of a lot of tap dancing, so it was even more cardio.

Cal and Ram had me in the gun range daily as well. I swear, Ram even had me firing freaking cannon from the war of 1812 one day. I would never be a sniper and I would never have the deep, intimate relationship with my gun that Ram had with his, but I was getting more comfortable with my gun. Cal had swapped out my little .38 for a semi-automatic that fit my hand much better than the big guns the guys carried and I was slowly adapting to having it on my hip all the time. I felt like Annie Oakley, but a badass Annie Oakley in black.

The time when I wasn't groaning in the gym or range, I was with Tank learning about the business end of things. Every moment was busy. I doubted my ability to survive the full two weeks.

Someone had to drive me home most nights since I was too sore after eight hours of working out with Bobby, being flung around by Lester and shooting with Cal to get myself home in one piece. Lester, Bobby and Cal would take turns taking me to dinner and then home. Bobby had to give me a massage a couple of times I was so sore. I nearly proposed. Twice.

After the first two weeks, the twin tyrants, Bobby and Lester, finally lightened up on my workouts. I couldn't believe how much I'd toned up in only two weeks, but I never, ever wanted to go through that again.

After barely surviving boot camp, RangeMan style, I switched from working my ass off to focusing more on learning about the administrative side of things. Bobby and Lester still drug me down to the gym on a regular basis, but I was spending most of my time with Tank for the next couple of weeks.

And Lester was right, Tank was almost giddy to be getting rid of some of his administrative responsibilities. I swear he started rubbing his hands together in joy when he said that I'd be doing most of the purchasing, payroll, reporting and any other admin related tasks he could come up with for me to do once I was more comfortable with it all. And then he said that his ass would be back where it belonged, out on the street.

Things were going well and I felt like I was really part of the team. And more than that, I'd become actual friends with almost all of the guys. They'd been completely supportive, even on the days when I was literally in tears after being pushed so hard by Bobby, Lester and Cal.

"You're doing great, Bomber," Ram had said when I'd threatened to shoot Cal with his own gun if he didn't leave me the hell alone for ten minutes. "We're pushing you hard and you're going to crash sometimes, but you're doing great."

I looked up at him as the tears coursed down my exhausted face. "You mean it?"

"Yeah, Angel," Cal had chimed in. "You're doing great."

That was the night they took me out dancing. I was too tired to dance but I was able to stay awake for a few hours and chat with everyone. That became routine, I'd go out on Friday or Saturday nights I was off with whoever was heading out.

Some of the guys were fairly shy and wanted to only hang out with the guys and me. I thought Hal would swallow his tongue when a brassy blonde walked up and asked him to dance as he walked in with Hector. Hal blushed bright red and raced over to me. I tucked my arm into his and glared at the blonde. She took the hint and ambled away. Hal was almost pathetically grateful and stayed within two feet of me for the rest of the night. I think he would have followed me into the women's room, but of course there might have been other women in it, and he couldn't handle that. It was cute.

But some of the guys were players beyond what I could believe. I thought Lester was the playboy of the group, and he wasn't a shy and retiring flower by any means, but Zero and Woody took it to a whole new level.

And true to my joke, Lester did introduce me to some of his friends who didn't work at RangeMan. I even got asked out by a couple of them. They weren't as hot as my Merry Men, but beggars can't be choosers. I gave them my phone number after Lester promised they weren't crazy wanna be stalkers. A couple even called me and asked me for dates.

My life was getting back on track nicely.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's note: <strong>__This is a short, moving it along kind of chapter. Never fear, more action in the next chapter – when Ranger returns to find a more self-assured and confident Stephanie who's firmly bonded with her Merry Men!_

_Thank you more than mere words can say for the fabulous reviews and private messages! I love getting the email that says I have a new review/ message. It's actually probably a little pathetic how excited I get, but feedback from my dissertation committee is usually not nearly as enthusiastic, so I don't like it as much. _

_Health is the same right now, still wearing the heart monitor. It's really annoying and mildly painful, but it's far better than the alternative so I'll try not to whine too much. I'll ask my cardiologist if thinking of Cuban Sex Gods and Merry Men can cause tachycardia and palpitations! ;-) Thanks also to all of you who've written me to say you've been through something similar and survived – it gives me hope!_

_Please review!_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10**_

"Keep your hands to yourself! You try that again and you'll pull back a stub!" I said very loudly and very vehemently as I slapped Woody's hands away.

"I was just trying to help you out, Bombshell," Woody said. I snorted.

"You wouldn't want Tank or Ranger to find out about this, would you?" Woody asked in a silky tone.

"You want to explain to them why I'm here at," I paused as I glanced pointedly at the clock, "ten on a Saturday night? You want to explain how you caused the payroll system to crash because you were snooping into my personal email? You want to tell Tank that he has to go back and approve everything? Again? Let me know when you're going to tell on me 'cause I want to have my popcorn ready!" I said.

"I was just trying to help you keep your figure," Woody tried again. There was another slap. This time it wasn't me.

"What the hell, Cal?" Woody asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Shut up, man," Cal said. "Don't you know that you never even imply that a lady's figure needs any help? Stupid," he muttered.

"Thank you, Cal. See, that's why he's my favorite," I told Woody.

"Aw, come on, Bombshell," Woody wheedled. "You wouldn't tell us anything about this guy! I was just trying to look out for you."

"Maybe because it's none of your business! You're like the nosy little brother I never wanted!" I said in an angry tone. "I was out on a date, in the middle of dessert and you sent me an emergency text! We hadn't even made it to dancing yet, and I was really looking forward to dancing!" I seethed for a moment before continuing. "I was expecting the building to be on fire, to see commandos scaling the walls or at least someone bleeding in Bobby's office. But no! It was just that you crashed the automated payroll system. Not. An. Emergency!" I told him emphatically, poking a finger into his chest to make sure he got the message.

"I'll take you dancing anytime you want, Angel," Cal said.

"Thank you, Cal. You can have some of my cake for being sweet."

"Can I?" Woody asked.

"No!"

"Then why does he get some?"

"Because he's nice to me and he didn't ruin my date! Now get out of here so I can try to fix your goof up before I have to tell Tank," I said. "Cal, grab some forks."

Cal shot out of the cubicle as if the hounds of hell were on his heels while I herded a sheepish Woody out of my cubicle. Woody froze when he saw Ranger leaning nonchalantly against the wall. I ran into Woody's back.

"Sir!" Woody said as he practically snapped to attention.

I peeked around him. "Hey, Ranger," I said as I stepped out from behind Woody.

Ranger's eyes widened as he took in my outfit. I was wearing a racy red dress that did look good, even I have to admit that. It was a halter neck that left my neck and shoulders bare. The skirt was a light and floaty material that swayed against my legs seductively as I walked. It was a great dancing dress. It was a great dress, period.

"Babe."

"Glad you made it back okay," I said as Cal skidded to a stop next to me, holding two forks triumphantly. He nodded at Ranger. I grabbed Cal's hand and dragged him back into my cubicle. Moments later, I was moaning loudly when Ranger stomped in.

"Holy shit, this is good!" Cal exclaimed.

"Told you!" I crowed.

Ranger walked in my cubicle. Cal and I were sharing a big piece of chocolate cake and I closed my eyes in bliss at the taste.

"I thought I told you no contraband if you worked here, Babe," Ranger said in a somewhat amused tone.

"I'm not supposed to be working right now. Therefore, it is not contraband," I replied with a slight grin on my otherwise rapturous expression. "I'm only here because someone was nosy and ruined my date!" I said in a loud tone, intending for Woody to hear it.

"Babe."

"No, seriously, you have to try this cake. It's oh my God amazing, right Cal?" I said. Cal just nodded and took another bite.

I scooped up a bit on the fork and walked over to Ranger. I offered him the fork and he accepted it to my surprise. His eyes widened at the explosion of flavors on his tongue.

"It's called chocolate orgasm cake," I told him with a smirk as I turned back to the plate. I took another bite for myself and moaned again.

"No fair!" Woody complained from behind Ranger.

"Kiss my ass!" I retorted.

"Bend over, darlin'," Woody replied.

"You wish," I replied with a grin as I flipped him the bird. "You're just jealous cause you ain't getting any."

"You think I couldn't get a date?" he said in an outraged tone.

"I never said you couldn't. But the fact is that you didn't tonight. You spent your free time snooping about my love life instead, which is just sad and pathetic!" I grinned.

"Babe, leave my men alone," Ranger told me with a slight smile.

"He started it!"

"Babe."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever. But he's going to be screwed when Tank finds out what happened!" Woody paled visibly.

"What happened?" Ranger asked.

"Nosy tried to hack into my email but he accidently crashed my payroll system instead. So now Tank's going to have to go back in and approve the payroll again and he's not going to be happy," I said the last in a slightly sing-song voice as I glared at Woody. "And he likes me better than you."

I looked back at Ranger and took in his appearance. He looked beyond tired, looking rather worse for the wear. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked.

"Long few weeks," was his reply as he pushed his hair back off of his forehead with a tired grimace.

"Go up to your apartment and get some rest. Everything here can wait until Monday," I told him.

He nodded tiredly.

"You need help getting to your apartment?" I asked in concern. He looked super tired.

He shot me a glance that I was interpreting as a negative. "Come on, Ranger, I'll at least help you get to your apartment," I told him as I handed Woody the box with one last big bite of cake in it. Woody just grinned at me.

Cal stood up when I did. "I'll stop by to say goodnight when I leave," I told him.

"I can get changed if you want, and we can go dancing if you're still in the mood," Cal said with a wide grin on his face.

"Sounds great!" I told him happily. "See you in ten."

Ranger was watching us but his blank mask was on his face so I didn't really know what he was thinking.

I walked with him to his office, where he opened his safe and took out a key fob to his apartment. He was silent and so was I. We walked to the elevator and he silently hit the key fob to go to his apartment on the seventh floor.

He entered his apartment and I paused at the door. "You want me to go get you anything? Sandwich, something like that?" I asked hesitantly, unsure whether or not to follow him into his apartment or not. We hadn't exactly parted on the best note before and I was mentally cursing myself for volunteering to escort him to his apartment.

"Babe," was his only response. Yep, he was just as frustrating as before.

"Ranger," I said as I rolled my eyes. "I'm just trying to be nice here. You look like you're about to collapse and I was only going to bring you a sandwich or two. I'm not sure if Ella's left you stuff in the fridge or not, but I know there's food down on five."

"I can go get something if I need it," he said in a cranky tone that I'd never heard from him before.

"Yeesh, fine, I'll leave you alone then," I told him as I turned to leave. "Hope you feel better."

His arm shot out and grabbed my wrist. "Stop," he said and I glared at his hand wrapped around my arm. He dropped it. "Please."

"What's going on with you?" I asked him in genuine concern as he turned away with a very pained look on his face. "You need me to call Bobby or Tank or something?"

"No."

"You're acting a little strange and it's a little bit scary."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to scare you, Babe," he said as he walked away. I trailed after him.

"What's wrong?" I asked again. He gazed at me steadily for a long minute but didn't answer. "Okay, fine, I can take a hint. I'm sorry I bothered you. I guess I'll see you on Monday," I said as I patted his arm before stepping back. "I hope you feel better soon. I'll let everyone know you're back and to leave you alone for the time being."

"Who are you dating?" he asked abruptly as I was about to walk out the door.

I rolled my eyes. "As I've told Woody a dozen times, it's nobody's business but my own. And he's going to be in for it the next time he has a date, if that ever happens again. God, why does everyone here want to know about my love life? It's just not normal," I complained.

"Babe."

"Ranger, I'm glad you're back and I'm glad you're okay. But my love life is not up for discussion, not now and not ever," I said steadily.

He stared at me in silence. It was pretty damn disconcerting. "So get some rest and feel better. I'll see you on Monday," I told him as I slipped out his door.

I stopped on four and knocked on Cal's door. He opened with a grin that faded as he saw my face.

"What's wrong?" he asked me.

"I don't know. Something's off with Ranger but I don't know what it is," I replied. Cal swept me into a comforting hug before he stepped back so I could enter his apartment.

"He's probably just still coming off the stress of his most recent mission. It's tough sometimes to move back into the normal world once you'd been out doing black ops for a while," he told me. "Sometimes you need some time alone before you can really talk to anyone outside of what you've been doing. It's why I got this," he said as he gestured towards his forehead.

I looked up at him. We'd been partners for over six weeks now and I really almost didn't notice the tattoo anymore. It was just a part of him that I didn't pay much attention to; it was there, but I'd long since stopped being startled by it.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, I had my fair share of attention from the ladies," he said sheepishly as he started to blush a little. I grinned at him and waggled my eyebrows. He blushed a little more before continuing. "But sometimes I just wasn't ready to actually talk to people. It's weird, I needed to be around people but I just couldn't deal with talking to them yet when I'd get back from doing God knows what. But if I went out, I tended to attract attention, both from girls who liked big guys and from drunk wannabes who wanted to get the girls' attention by beating up a big guy. So one night I was really drunk with some buddies and I ended up with this tattoo on my head. Never had a problem discouraging attention after that."

I reached up and traced the outline of the flaming skull. "I can see that," I said drily.

He smiled at me and I could definitely see why he didn't have any problems getting attention from the ladies. He has the most adorable grin and I felt honored that I was one of the few people around RangeMan who got to see it on a regular basis.

"Ever thought about growing our your hair or getting it removed?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "Still have to do some crazy shit and sometimes it's still nice to have it as a shield. My real friends, like you, don't pay much attention to it and it keeps the people who only care about appearances away."

"It also makes you look like a total badass," I said with a smirk. He grinned wider.

"That too," he admitted.

"It did startle me a little when I first met you," I told him honestly.

He rolled his eyes at me and I feigned shock as I collapsed against his couch. He laughed and I joined him. "Well, hell, you'd have to be blind for it not to startle you at first!" he admitted. "I was really drunk and my friends were really encouraging me to go for something bold. Guess I succeeded."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him down on the couch, and turned to face him. "Do you think you'll ever try to remove it or hide it?" I asked, my insatiable curiosity winning over the 'Burg manners to not invade his privacy.

"I don't know. Maybe one day. I've thought about it. I'd like to find a nice girl one day and maybe settle down, but I'm not sure I'm to that point in my life just yet, so it doesn't really matter yet," he said as he put his legs across my lap.

I reached up and brushed my fingers across the peach fuzz on the top of his head. "You could just let your hair grow out," I told him. "Grow out a Brutus style like George Clooney or something and the majority of it would be covered," I told him.

"Slight problem with that," he said with a groan as he reached up to rub his head. "I'm starting to lose my hair, I think. My dad was mostly bald by the time he was in his late thirties so I think I'm screwed on that front. And getting it removed would still leave a big scar that would probably look worse than the tat."

"Cal, how would you know?" I asked him with exasperation in my voice. "I've never seen your hair more than half a millimeter long!"

"A man can tell," he told me with a serious glint in his eyes.

"Well, so what? Some women like bald guys," I retorted.

"Bald guys with a flaming skull on their forehead?" he asked in disbelief.

"Sure. It takes all kinds," I told him. "And, for the record, even with the tattoo, you're a total hottie."

He grinned at me. Yep, I stand by my previous statement, he's a total hottie.

"So you still want to go dancing?" he asked after a moment.

"I don't think I'm in the dancing mood anymore," I admitted.

"Want to watch a movie?" he asked then.

"Ghostbusters!" I nearly shouted.

"Haven't you memorized the entire thing by now?" he groaned.

"Yep."

"So we can watch something else?" he asked hopefully.

"Nope."

"Shit."

"Yep."

"Good thing I like you."

"Good thing you love me."

"Ah, hell," he muttered. I grinned. I'd won.

We went up to five to raid the fridge of food stocked by Ella. That was why Cal had been on the control floor when I'd rushed into the building, he'd been looking for food. Woody mock glared at me and I stalked away with my skirt swishing. He'd tossed me a wink as I flounced away and I knew that he was just teasing, just like I was.

* * *

><p>We'd settled in to watch Ghostbusters and then the next thing I know, I'm curled up on Cal's bed and he's nowhere to be seen. I was wearing one of Cal's gargantuan t-shirts and it actually covered more of me than my dress the night before had. I rolled out of bed and staggered into the kitchen, following my nose to the coffee. Cal handed me a cup without a word and I grabbed at it with both hands, still not quite awake enough to manage it with the one hand.<p>

After a few sips, I felt slightly more human. "Hey," I told Cal and he grinned at me. He was dressed in exercise gear and looked like he was ready to run about a million miles.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," he said.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You fell asleep."

"Thank you, captain obvious," I retorted. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I tried. You're kinda nasty when you're sleepy and someone's trying to wake you up, did you know that? You got a mouth on you that should be washed out with soap!" he sounded amused. "I heard words come out of your mouth that I've never heard from anyone other than a sailor."

"Sorry," I mumbled as I blushed brightly. "Guess I was tired."

"No worries. Just expanded my vocabulary a little."

"So, um, how did I get out of my dress and into one of your shirts?" I finally asked.

"How do you think?"

"Oh God, you changed me? Please say it was magical elves or something instead," I pleaded.

Cal just chuckled. "I didn't look. Well, no more than I had to look to not poke your eye out or something."

"Oh God," I moaned again. He was flat out laughing at me.

"I'm not shy. I'll let you see me naked if it makes you feel better," he offered as he reached for the hem of his t-shirt. I ran away, choosing retreat as the better part of valor. I locked myself in his bathroom and refused to come out for a while. He kept cajoling, promising that he wouldn't tell anyone.

He finally convinced me to come out when he brought a set of my workout clothes out to me. I'd been leaving some clothes in both Cal and Lester's apartments so I could use their shower in privacy after a workout. Or in case I got smeared in something gross, which was thankfully not a problem now that I was spending most of my time working at RangeMan. In the past, I'd used Ranger's apartment but I didn't feel comfortable with that given our awkward situation.

Cal convinced me to go work out with him. I'd been fulfilling the terms of my contract by working out on average three times per week, and it wasn't as hideous as I'd thought it would be. I usually worked out with Cal, but I also had done some with Lester and Bobby and even a couple with Woody. Woody and I play argued enough to keep me distracted while working out and I attempted to have conversations with the other guys.

Lester and Bobby were down in the gym already busting their lovely humps on the treadmills when Cal and I walked in. They smiled and waved and came over to join us. Cal fiddled with the sound system and got a heavy Latin beat pounding in the background. I grinned. That meant my workout for the day would be dance lessons rather than boring jogging on a treadmill.

Half an hour later, I had definitely worked up a sweat but I was having a blast. I was sitting on the floor holding my sides and howling with laughter. I was actually afraid that I might pee on myself I was laughing so hard. Lester wasn't doing any better than me. We were leaning against each other and trying very hard not to choke to death on our laughter.

We'd gone through many of the dances I'd already learned and they'd been trying to teach me the bachata, a very sensual style of dance, and I'd gotten frustrated because I couldn't understand what they wanted me to do. So I suggested that one of them do the girl part and show me. That then became incredibly hilarious because, of course, none of the guys wanted to be the girl. After a little sparring between the three of them, it was determined that Cal would do the male part of the dance and poor Bobby had to demonstrate the girl part of the dance.

I finally tipped over onto Lester's lap after Bobby fell down for the fifth or sixth time because he kept tying to lead Cal. Given that Cal was supposed to be doing the male's side of the dance, plus the fact that he was half a head taller and at least forty pounds heavier than Bobby, it wasn't working out so well for both of them to try to lead.

Cal had just dipped Bobby and Bobby was trying to explain the move to me when Ranger walked into the room. Ranger froze, staring at the two of them in shock, and then Cal dropped Bobby on his ass. Again.

Lester and I howled louder and even Cal and Bobby started chuckling at the expression of abject shock on Ranger's face.

"What the fuck?" a bewildered Ranger asked Cal and Bobby. Cal was laughing too hard to answer and just pointed at me. Bobby's normally dark complexion was a little redder than normal as he rubbed his ass. He just shook his head.

Ranger turned to look at me. "Babe? What the hell have you done to my men?"

That set me off again and I was giggling uncontrollably, my head still in Lester's lap. Tears were running down my face and I decided that this had to be the best abdominal workout ever created. Screw any Jillian Michaels ab workout, hysterical laughter works the abs better than any crunch ever could.

Ranger walked over, and the expression on his face just made me laugh harder. I was pretty sure I was going to pee on myself, but I had the consolation that Lester would probably pee on himself too. Ranger plucked me up to my feet and glared at me. I was still bent at the waist, trying to contain my glee.

"Babe?" he said in his dangerous, 'answer me now or I'm your worst nightmare' voice. But the sight of a sheepish Cal and Bobby over his shoulder was just too funny.

Lester had gotten to his feet and pulled me beside him. "Part of her training," he managed to rasp out through his own chuckles.

Ranger looked at Lester like he'd lost his ever-loving mind. "How is Cal and Bobby holding hands part of her training?" he asked.

I giggled again and Lester chuckled. Then the song ended and a new one began. Lester pulled me towards him and started to dance. I was still giggling and hiccupping occasionally, but I tried to follow his lead. We danced for several measures of music and then Lester dipped me. I arched my back like I'd been taught and allowed myself to sway backwards, trusting that Lester wouldn't drop me on my ass like Cal had dropped Bobby.

I looked back at Bobby and Cal from my upside down position. "I think we do this better than you two do."

Cal winked at me and Bobby looked slightly offended. "I'm a man! I don't know how to do the girl part of the dances," he complained and I grinned at him. Lester pulled me back up with a snap and I was pulled tightly against his chest. We stayed in that position for a heartbeat before one heavily muscled thigh, yum, slid between mine and I rocked back as Lester's hips pushed against mine in the dance steps that closely mimicked sex. We danced for a moment before he spun me out into a twirl.

I danced my way out of Lester's spin and Cal snagged my arm and pulled me to his chest instead. Then he started the tango steps and I followed along, swinging my hips to the music. We danced for a minute and then Bobby tapped on Cal's shoulder and they seamlessly traded places. Bobby went for a double time jive that had me breathless in moments as he spun me around and flung me around like a rag doll.

Then Bobby flipped me out and Lester caught my hand, pulling me into a sexy salsa. He pulled me into a series of sexy salsa body rolls and I concentrated on keep my body fluid and following Lester's lead. The song was coming to an end and he dipped me in a dramatic flourish as the song ended. He'd maneuvered us back to be right in front of Ranger and Lester was showing off a little, dipping me with just one arm to show off his strength.

Ranger just stared at us, his blank face on but I could see the tension around his eyes. "It's called cardio dance, Ranger, and it's a perfectly valid form of cardiovascular exercise. Plus they're all teaching me new dances in case I ever need them while doing distractions," I tried to explain. He didn't look convinced.

"So what were those two doing then?" he asked me as he gestured at Cal and Bobby.

"I'm not quite getting the steps to the bachata and they were trying to show me what to do," I explained.

Ranger shot a slightly incredulous look at me. I started to giggle. The thought of Cal and Bobby dancing the bachata was a little surreal to me too. It was not the most attractive dancing partnership I'd ever seen.

Ranger just shook his head slightly.

"So, who you want to try the bachata with first?" Cal asked me.

"You, if you promise not to drop me on my ass like you did Bobby!" I told him.

"Hey!" Lester exclaimed. "Why not me?"

"You try to feel me up during the dance and he doesn't," I said with a smile.

"You can't blame a guy for trying," Lester said with a charming grin. I rolled my eyes at him.

Ranger stood by and watched as Cal and I went through the steps. We went at half speed at first, with Lester, Bobby and Cal calling out instructions. Bobby stood behind me and helped to guide me when I was unsure about the steps. This involved him having his hands all over my hips and ass, but Bobby had claimed this role early during our little dance club since he's the medic and thus the most familiar with the human body.

Yeah, I didn't buy that either.

I was pretty sure that I heard Ranger growl a time or two during the dance but he didn't interrupt us again.

Once I had the steps mostly down slowly, Cal gradually speeded up the dance. And woo boy, but it was a sexy dance. Lots of hip action and bumping and grinding. I was blushing doing the dance with Cal and I knew I'd be beet red by the time I finished it with Bobby and Lester. That was our usual routine, I had to be able to complete the dance with all three of them before we could check it off the list of dances they'd compiled for me.

After I finished the dance with Cal, I danced with Bobby.

Then with Lester. And yep, I was right, he was making all sorts of soft comments in my ear that only I could hear. His job was usually to try to grope me like a skip might in a bar, so I had to manage to keep myself safe from roving hands while also pretending like I liked the roving hands. And holy cow but Lester's hands did rove! I had to keep repositioning his hands from my ass to my waist. Once we were done and Cal and Bobby had nodded approvingly, both chuckling, I kicked Lester in the ankle.

Bobby and Cal laughed, used to it by now, but Ranger was steaming. I could almost see the rage simmering.

"Santos, mats," he barked at Lester and I rolled my eyes.

"Stop being the overprotective dad, Ranger. He might enjoy it a tad too much, but the plan is to try to discombobulate me by groping me like a skip might. So I spend half the dance trying to keep his hands in the PG zones like I might if I were trying to attract a skip. They take turns being gropy, the little known eighth dwarf. I think Lester enjoys it most, though," I said with a wry grin. Lester grinned back, not bothering to deny it.

Lester turned back to me and gave me a look that I knew all too well. I braced myself and he pounced on me. I started flinging my elbows and knees around, trying to buck Lester off of me. Ranger picked him up with a snarl and flung him away, standing protectively between Lester and me, his gaze locked completely on Lester's prone body and his left arm curled behind him with his hand on my hip, keeping me behind him.

"Um, Ranger, that was self-defense practice. These guys make me do it after just about every workout. Really, it was just practice, no one is trying to hurt me or you," I said softly, trying to get Ranger's attention to shift to me and not Lester. It didn't work. Bobby and Cal were both looking anxious and they were silently moving closer to be able to grab Ranger if he tried to fling around Lester again.

I lifted my hands to show that I was no threat and stepped cautiously between Lester and Ranger. "It was just practice. See? I'm okay. Lester's okay. You're okay. Just practice. Like when you guys spar," I said in the most soothing voice I could manage. I'd seen Ranger in full on protection mode before but I'd never seen him so rattled.

Ranger stared at me unblinkingly for a moment before he relaxed his stance and dropped his arms from their defensive position. He shot a look at the three guys that I didn't understand and then he was gone. I turned to my Merry Men.

"What gives?" I asked.

"Not entirely sure, but he's still pretty keyed up from whatever it is that he did while he was gone. Might take a few days or weeks for him to come back down from being hypersensitive," Bobby said quietly. All joking and fun was gone.

I turned to Cal. "So he needs to be around people but he's not ready to act normally just yet?" I asked. Cal nodded.

"So why did he attack Lester? He knows Les would never hurt me!" I said.

"Beautiful, it wasn't about me, it was about you. He was protecting you. He felt like you were in danger. He'd probably have thrown his own father against the wall if he thought he was attacking you," Lester explained as he got to his feet with Bobby's help.

"But why? Because I'm a girl?" I asked, trying to understand.

"Because you're you," Cal said softly.

Lester nodded. "I know you said that you and Ranger were only friends but I think if nothing else, this shows that you're more than just a friend to him."

I rolled my eyes. "Doesn't matter, Les. Friendship is all it can be," I said quietly.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Lester replied equally quietly as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Seems like his feelings are a little close to the surface right now. I've known Ranger literally my whole life but when it came down to it, he'd do anything to protect you, not me."

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked in frustration. "I don't know how to act with him!"

"Act as normally as you can," Bobby said, "but try not to be completely alone with him for a little while. He's still decompressing and it seems like he'd got a way to go yet. He wouldn't hurt you but he's ramped up and could be a little unpredictable until he's back in his routine."

After eating lunch with the guys on five, I went back to my apartment to mull over Ranger's recent reactions. I had found no answers by the time I was preparing for bed. Rex hadn't come up with anything either.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's note: <strong>__Thanks for the reviews! I'm terribly sorry I haven't replied to any in forever, but I've been so busy with work, school and my heart stuff that I've barely had time to do anything. But please know that I do a little happy dance (usually mentally but occasionally physically) when I see the review email. They make my day!_

_Still the same ol', same ol' with the heart stuff. Nothing new from the cardiologist and I'm getting pretty tired of waiting. I'm not a patient person. But once I know something, I'll update it on here!_

_Thanks for the kind wishes, warm thoughts and reviews. Keep it coming!_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11**_

I walked into the conference room for the weekly staff meeting the next Monday morning. Woody smirked at me from what was normally my seat. Since Ranger was back, there weren't enough seats for me to be at the big kids table.

I glared at Woody and he grinned at me, dimples flashing. "You snooze, you lose," he told me. We'd somehow developed this crazy sibling rivalry and we were always trying to one up the other. "Guess you have to stand against the wall."

Ranger was glaring at me and Woody but I tried to ignore him.

"Yeah, right," I told Woody.

Then I walked over to Cal, who was looking down as he made a few notes, and pulled his chair out slightly. He tensed slightly before he looked up at me. I smiled and his taunt muscles relaxed. He scooted back a little more and I sat down on his lap, smiling at Woody.

"This seat works just fine!" I said. Then I ruined any illusion of maturity by sticking my tongue out at Woody.

"Babe," Ranger said through clenched teeth, "you can have my chair."

"Thank you, Ranger. You're such a gentleman. Unlike some people I could name. But Cal's actually surprisingly good at being a chair. Very comfy," I replied airily. Cal bit back a laugh and I could feel his chest vibrating with his suppressed chuckles. "Even has a massage function if you make him laugh!"

Everyone was smiling except Ranger. Lester was trying not to grin, trying to pout at me that I hadn't sat on his lap, but he was amused too. I could tell.

Ranger shot us one more glare before calling the meeting to order. Tank just gave us an amused glance before turning his attention to Ranger. He'd become accustomed to us.

Tank gave an overview of business while Ranger had been away, and then each of section leads gave a brief update of their areas. Ranger looked a little surprised when I started speaking after Cal finished.

"I've negotiated contracts for most of the major categories of supplies. So far, estimates look to be about twenty percent less than last year's actual charges," I told everyone.

Ranger's eyebrows rose. "How did you do that?" he asked.

"Do you realize how much you guys were paying for office supplies? You just went to the nearest store and bought stuff when you ran out. By contracting with one of the big office supply companies, we can order big quantities of the usual supplies, like copy paper, pens and the like, and still get a much better deal on less used supplies online through them. Stuff is shipped overnight for free and it's a huge price cut. You might want to have the other offices do this as well," I told a surprised Ranger.

Tank nodded at me. Tank liked not having to go to the office supply store every few weeks to buy more paper and staples.

"And bullets are not as expensive as I thought they were! I've set up a contract with a paramilitary supply company to get the exact same bullets, vests and stuff, but at a big discount from what you were paying. We buy a bunch in bulk at one time rather than ordering a couple of crates every two months or whatever. Just buy a whole bunch at once and keep them in the storage areas until we need them. And Bobby's ordering from a medical supply company rather than going to Walgreens when he needs more bandages. That'll save a big chunk there too."

Ranger's eyes went a little bit wider and I smirked at him. Hey, I knew my shit! Maybe I haven't used my sales contract training much lately, but I was pretty good at getting a good price on undies when I worked at E.E. Martin.

"Future years will be even better since we're already halfway through this year. I think I could eventually get purchasing costs down to about sixty to sixty-five percent of last year's expenditure," I concluded with a smile.

"Tell him about payroll and all the computer systems," Lester said to prod me.

"Oh yeah! So now everyone logs in and enters their time on a centralized payroll system rather than filling out paper forms. So the data is automatically entered into my spreadsheet and I'm able to review it and have Tank approve it. Then I transmit the info to the accounting firm you use and they send us the checks. I think Tank likes the new method," I said.

Tank nodded vehemently. Yes, he very much liked not having to enter everyone's payroll data individually.

"And the templates?" Tank said.

"I created a couple of templates for reports that everyone uses frequently. So there are templates for picking up a skip, taking a skip to the hospital, and yes, I'm looking at you Hal," I said to tease him. His last two skips had tried to fight him, dumb move, and ended up in the ER. He blushed ever so slightly but grinned at me.

"Surveillance, responding to alarm codes, the things we do a lot of, now there's a template that also has a drop down menu for routine things. The guys can write in other stuff if it was something out of the ordinary, but this makes it faster for the routine stuff. And that means they are more likely to do it without having their life and limb threatened by Tank."

Ranger started to say something, but he was interrupted by a tap on the door.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt, but Ms. Plum, there's a phone call for you," one of the new guys, Josh, said.

"Stephanie," I told him for about the twentieth time.

"Ms. Stephanie," he replied with an earnest nod. I rolled my eyes. Granted, I am older than this just out of the military early twenty-something guy, but I am not old enough to be called miss and ma'am all the time. Sheesh.

"Ms. Jordan insists on speaking with you right now. I told her you were in a meeting but she said you've been trying to reach each other for days," Josh said.

I jumped out of Cal's lap. "Yes! I need to talk to her. I'm going to get you all a better rate on your health insurance," I said as I dashed out of the room to my cubicle.

I was still on the phone with Michelle Jordan when Ranger came by my cubicle a bit later.

"Yes, Ms. Jordan, I know that it's a higher risk occupation but have you ever seen these guys? They are like ridiculously healthy. All muscles, every one of them. They work out all the time and the boss makes us all eat healthy stuff. Like lunch yesterday was grilled vegetables on whole wheat bread. How crazy is that? So while the occupational hazards are a wee bit higher, these are guys who are unlikely to end up with heart disease from sitting around eating donuts on the couch all day. So doesn't that balance the slight risk of injury? Plus they're all really, really good at what they do. Trust me, the other person is likely to be the one needing a hospital room, not my guys!"

Michelle hemmed and hawed for a moment before giving me a number.

"Oh come on, I'm sure we can do better than that! They're walking and talking muscles, I tell ya! They make the Chippendale dances look sad and pathetic," I told her.

"Look, do you have Skype?" I asked her. She was surprised but said yes. We exchanged Skype info and stayed on the phone while we connected online. Once I had her on the screen, we hung up.

"Can you see me okay?" I asked and she replied yes.

"Check this out," I said as I dragged Cal out of his cubicle next to mine. Then I pulled Ranger into view. By the slightly stunned look on Michelle's face, I knew she was seeing us okay.

Lester walked by and I grabbed him too, adding him to my arsenal. "Flex those pretty muscles, boys," I ordered. Ranger shot me an evil glare but Lester started mugging big time. He flexed in the He-Man pose to make his muscles pop and I was giggling at him.

Cal was just staring at me with a confused look on his face. "Cal, show Ms. Jordan from our health insurance agency your beautiful abs. I'm trying to convince her that all you guys are crazy healthy and we should get a discount for you guys being in such wonderful shape."

He gave me a confused look and I pulled up his shirt slightly to show off his amazing washboard abs. "Check this out!" I told Michelle as I poked at Cal's abs. "You could do laundry on his stomach!" I told her.

Lester grabbed me from behind and started lifting me up and down, basically doing weightlifting exercises with me as his weight. I was snorting with laughter.

"Come on, Ranger, show her how in shape you are. Flex or something," I told him as I continued to move up and down without any assistance from my legs whatsoever.

Ranger glared at me. I laughed and rolled my eyes. "He's feeling a little camera shy, I think," I told Michelle. "But he's in great shape too, I promise," I told her.

"So, have we convinced you yet? Or do you want me to bring over some other guys so you can see how good all these guys are at staying in shape?" I asked as Cal snatched me out of Lester's arms and sat me down.

She seemed to shake herself out of her stupor and started grinning. "Much as I would like to see that, I think I have to trust you that they're all in as good as shape as these three are," she told me. "Given the work place requirements for healthy living, I guess we could do a discount."

"Now you're talking!" I told her. "Thank you, my muscle men," I said as I turned to the guys and smiled before sitting down to discuss numbers with Michelle. Cal seemed bemused, Lester was grinning at me, and Ranger looked mildly annoyed. Of course, Ranger looking mildly annoyed was usually the precursor to someone getting shot. I hope it wasn't me.

By the end of my conversation, I'd reduced RangeMan's premiums by twenty-five percent. And that was for the whole company, not just the Trenton branch. That translated into a six-digit discount and I was feeling pretty happy with myself.

I danced into Ranger's open office with a wide grin on my face. He looked up from his paperwork and smiled at me. "Judging from your cha-cha, which is pretty good by the way, I'm guessing it went well?" he asked.

I grinned at him and continued to dance in place. "So?" he prodded.

"Twenty-five percent discount on premiums," I told him with a big smile.

Ranger smiled back at me. "That's great, Babe! That'll save tens of thousands of dollars," he said.

"Nope. It's closer to two hundred grand. It's a discount for all of the RangeMan offices, not just Trenton," I said as I twirled around in joy at being able to surprise Mr. Unflappable.

When I turned back around, Ranger's jaw was hanging slightly open and I grinned at him. "How do you like them apples, huh, Ranger?" I asked.

He stared at me assessingly for a moment. "How much have you saved the company so far?" he asked.

I had to think for a moment. "From last year's total budget, probably around a million total in a full calendar year," I told him. "If I include the full insurance discount, but that's not just this office, that's for all of the branches."

"Damn, Babe. Proud of you!"

I nearly glowed with pride. "Thanks!"

"Tank!" Ranger bellowed. A moment later, Tank ambled in.

"You called?" he asked Ranger in his usual calm manner.

"Stephanie just saved us some major money," Ranger told him. Tank looked at me and smiled, which is a major reaction for Tank.

"I've gotten used to it," Tank told Ranger calmly. "What is it this time?"

"Twenty-five percent discount on health insurance premiums for all of the RangeMan branches," I told him with a big grin.

He grinned back at me. "Good job," he told me and I beamed at him. "We're going to have to give you a percentage of what you save for us," he told me and I blushed slightly.

I looked at Ranger. "Just think how much of a discount I could have gotten if you'd just shown off your abs or something," I told him with a smile.

"Babe."

"I can get her back on Skype if you're feeling less shy," I told him with a wink. He shook his head slightly and I grinned at him before cha-chaing my way out of his office past Tank.

I danced up to Cal, and tugged him to his feet to dance with me. "Why are we dancing?" he asked after a moment.

"Because your abs and Lester's biceps got us a big discount!" I told him. He tipped his head back and laughed.

"You're nuts, did you know that?" he asked as he chuckled.

"Yep, but it worked! Twenty-five percent discount thanks to the two of you," I told him as he dipped me. As I leaned back, I saw Ranger standing behind me with his hands on his hips and a small smile on his face.

"Hi Ranger. Want to join the dance party? I can probably get Bobby to dance with you if you promise not to drop him when you do dips," I said with a grin as Cal pulled me back up and we continued to dance to music that apparently only I could hear.

"Babe."

"Maybe Lester then. But I don't think it would work for Cal to be the girl, he's just too big," I told him as Cal started chuckling.

"Thanks, Angel," Cal told me.

"No problem, buddy," I told him. "I don't want to be messing with your gender identity."

"But you don't mind messing with Bobby's?" Ranger asked.

I shrugged. "That would be Lester's problem then, not mine," I told him with a grin as I shifted from the cha-cha to the salsa. Cal hesitated for a beat before shifting into the salsa as well.

Ranger was shaking his head slightly at me. "How many dances have they taught you?" he asked.

"Geez, I don't know. The salsa I'd already learned, sorta, but I've learned to some extent the cha-cha, samba, mambo, tango and the merengue. The bachata you saw yesterday. Oh yeah, the jive. We've mostly done Latin dances so far," I told him.

He just stared at me. "You've learned all of those since I left?"

"Yeah," I told him as I stopped dancing. "Why?"

He just stared at me for a moment and it irritated me. "I am actually a pretty good dancer, or so I'd like to think," I told him slightly huffily. "So it's not like they were starting with someone with absolutely no sense of timing or rhythm."

"That's a lot for anyone to learn in six weeks, Babe," he said.

"Maybe. But it's not like I'm going to be on 'Dancing with the Stars' or anything like that!"

"So how about if I take you dancing on Friday night, teach you some Cuban dances?" he asked.

I immediately grimaced. "Sorry. I can't."

"Already have plans?" he asked with a bit of steel in his voice.

"Yeah. My hard ass boss is making me work," I said with a grin.

"I know your boss, I'm sure I could pull some strings," Ranger said, looking rather relieved. Guess he'd rather I was working than having a social life.

"Nah, that wouldn't be fair. Everyone else has to work weekends sometimes too and it's not right for me to get special treatment. Maybe you can teach us some dances in the gym someday."

"Someday," he said in what seemed to be a slightly wistful tone of voice.

"Are you working tonight?" he asked rather abruptly.

"Um, no."

"Have dinner with me on seven."

I looked at Cal, my indecision on my face. "Actually, I had dinner plans with Cal but you're welcome to join us," I told him as I turned to glance at Cal, my expression begging him to go along.

Ranger's gaze narrowed at he looked at us. "Are you two more than colleagues?" he asked in a testy tone.

"We're partners here at RangeMan, and friends outside of the office," I told Ranger in my own testy tone of voice. "Not that you have the right to determine who I'm friends with in the office or out of it."

"You seem closer."

"Hello, have you seen Lester and Bobby? They're like conjoined twins half the time out of the office. You don't seem to have a problem with them being buddies. Or Vince and Ram. Or you and Tank. So why does it bother you that Cal and I are friends?" I said with my hands on my hips.

"You dance like that with all of your friends?" Ranger retorted.

"Yeah, pretty much," I said with a sweet smile that was probably obviously fake. "Except for Mare. She can't dance."

He glared at me and I felt Cal shift closer to my side. Ranger noticed. "You can't be just friends. Look at him trying to protect you. From me!" he sounded offended.

"You're my friend and you tried to protect me from Lester yesterday morning. And you're not exactly acting normally right now, so yeah, they're a bit concerned about you."

"I would never hurt you," he insisted.

"Not in normal situations, no. But they've told me that you're still decompressing or whatever from your last trip into the wind and that you might not be back to normal yet. And you don't seem like yourself yet. So yeah, they're a little protective of me," I told him as calmly as I could manage. "I'm trying to be understanding of that. So you're welcome to come with us to dinner if you can stop being quite so cranky."

Ranger shot a glare at me and stomped off. I turned to Cal, who shrugged. He didn't have any clue either.

Cal and I did end up going out for dinner, just in case Ranger asked. We went to Pino's and I ordered a guilt-free meatball sub. Since I was working out and dancing so much, I wasn't too worried about my ability to button my jeans anymore.

I hugged Cal goodbye and he told me to keep my chin up, that Ranger would be back to normal eventually. I hoped he was right.

_**Author's note: **__Thanks, as always, for the reviews! I love them! I'd eat them with a spoon if I could. I bet they'd taste like ice cream._

_I go get more tests on Monday to prepare for my next appointment the next Monday (Feb. 13). I'll keep you all posted! It means so much that so many of you care. It's just amazing. Thank you._


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter 12**_

I woke up in the middle of the night with the absolute certainty that someone was watching me. It was creepy and I didn't like it. I pretend to turn over in my sleep and groped for the stun gun that Cal insisted I keep next to my bed since I was equally insistent that my gun was perfectly happy living in my cookie jar.

I came up with the stun gun and flicked on the lamp. Ranger was sitting slumped on the chair in the corner of my bedroom.

"Ranger! What are you doing here?" I asked in alarm.

I sat up and pushed my curls out of my eyes. Ranger sat stoically in the corner. He didn't move.

"Ranger?" I asked again.

He didn't move. I crawled out from under the covers and walked over to him. I squatted down in front of him so I could see his face. I pushed his long hair back and tucked it behind his ears so I could see him better.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly.

He finally opened his eyes and looked at me. His eyes were pained.

He just stared at me for a long time until I shivered. It was a cool night and standing around in just an old t-shirt wasn't exactly keeping me warm and fuzzy. That seemed to snap him out of it.

"Sorry, Babe, I shouldn't have bothered you," he said as he started to stand up. I grabbed his hands to keep him from leaving.

"No, I think you should have come. Clearly something is wrong. Tell me what it is so I can help," I told him. He laughed but it wasn't with humor.

"I don't think anyone can help me."

"I can try."

He shivered slightly then. He was just wearing a painted on t-shirt over his cargos, no jacket or coat, and my cheap apartment owners refused to turn up the furnace in the building beyond the minimum to keep the pipes ice-free.

You know, I think that may have been the first time I ever saw him shiver. I've seen him hot and sweaty, yum. Okay, don't go there. But I've never seen him affected by the cold.

"Tell me what's bothering you," I said again as I tugged him over towards the bed. I sat down and patted the side of the bed. He hesitated for a moment before kicking off his boots and lying down next to me. I arranged the blankets over us and turned to look at him, propped up on my elbow.

He stared at the ceiling. He didn't look at me or talk to me, he just stared at my ceiling. I glanced up just to be sure that it hadn't changed. Nope, still a boring popcorn ceiling. Nothing all that fun to look at up there.

He shivered again and I stretched out next to him and wrapped my arms around him. He wrapped one arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. I laid my head on his bicep and watched him stare at the ceiling. After a while, his eyes drifted shut and his breathing slowed. So then I allowed my eyes to close and I fell asleep as well.

When I woke up the next morning, Ranger was still in my bed and I was still curled up against him. It was cold in my apartment, so it was nice to have Ranger there to keep me nice and toasty warm.

I had actually woken up before Ranger, so, for once, I got to watch him sleep. He looked a lot younger asleep, and a lot more innocent. I knew he had seen and done some awful things in his life, but right now, he just looked so peaceful that it was hard to see him as a Special Forces mercenary.

It was fascinating to watch as he started to wake up. Maybe that's why I've woken up to find him watching me sleep so many times. His face was far more expressive than it usually was, and expressions fairly flew across his face.

Finally, his eyes opened and he blinked several times to clear the sleep. He looked around for a second before looking over at me.

"Hey," I said softly. He smiled and it was possibly the sweetest smile I've ever seen on his face. Heck, on any face.

"Good morning," he said as he pulled me closer. He kissed me gently on the forehead before adjusting our positions so my head was resting on his chest.

"How did you sleep?" I finally asked, getting somewhat hypnotized by his steady heartbeat.

"Better than I have in a long time," he admitted.

"I'm glad."

There was a long pause. "You want to talk about it or forget it happened? I'm good at denial," I said with a smile.

Ranger's lips quirked slightly. The last part amused him, as I hoped it would.

Then he sighed slightly. "This last trip, it was pretty bad," he finally admitted. I hugged him gently.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"I just needed to be near you," he said softly, staring intently at my ceiling. "Just needed to know that you were okay."

"I'm fine."

"I just needed to know."

"Okay."

"I can't really tell you much about it. But I lost two good people on my team. I watched them get killed but there was nothing I could do to stop it. They were posing as a couple and they got blown away. For a second there, it was you who got shot. I mean, the female operative had curly brown hair but that was about it for resemblance with you, but for a minute, it was you who got killed and that just about killed me," he said, his voice so soft at the end that I had to strain to hear him even though my ear was mere inches from his mouth.

"I'm sorry," I said again, at a loss for anything else I could say. "Actually seeing you get shot was probably the worst day of my life, so I can only imagine how that felt."

"Explain."

I rolled my eyes at him. Would it kill him to use the word please? Or more than one word? "When you walked into my apartment and Scrog shot you. It was awful, beyond awful. You looked right into my eyes and then he pulled the trigger. I knew you were dead. It took Morelli and the EMTs a really long time to convince me that you weren't dead. I pretty much just lost it and was in catatonic shock," I told him, shuddering as I relived those memories. "I don't think I was really convinced that you'd be okay until your mom was reassuring me that you'd be fine after you woke up."

"Why?"

Alright, Mr. One Word, enough of that. It's far too early for me to be pouring out my heart and soul. "Did you really think it would be no big deal if you died trying to save me?" I asked in a fit of pique.

"I knew you'd be upset, but that was the only option to save you and Julie. I'd never let anything happen to either of you if there was anything at all I could do," he said. I knew this already.

"Then why's it surprising that I was upset?"

"Not just upset, you said you were practically catatonic," he countered.

"Ranger, you're one of my best friends. You've saved my life, literally, I don't know how many times. You're the only one who ever told me they were proud of me. You're the only one who didn't spend all your time telling me why I was too stupid to do my job. I care about you and I would be devastated if anything happened to you."

He reversed our positions so that I was lying on my back and he was hovering over me, his weight pleasantly pressing into me but not squishing me. He was staring intently into my eyes and the intimate position was wreaking all kinds of havoc with my Hungarian hormones. I tried to tamp them down.

"I really think my heart stopped beating for a minute when I thought I'd lost you," he said. "I didn't know I could hurt so badly that I couldn't breathe. Why do you think that is?"

"You'd miss my sparkling wit and charming personality?" I said gamely, trying to ignore the fact that Ranger was for all practical purposes on top of me.

"Babe. Stephanie," he said, his gaze intent and focused with laser-like intensity on my eyes. "Is it too late? Have I lost you already?"

"I'm not dead, Ranger."

"That's not what I mean and you know it." Well, hell, he's got me there. I know that's not what he meant but I also have no idea how to handle this conversation.

I glanced away, unable to handle looking into his eyes any longer. "I… I don't know how to answer that," I said as I nervously chewed on my lower lip. He shifted all of his weight to free his right hand, which he brought up to tenderly brush over my lips. I froze, barely daring to breathe.

"Are you afraid of me?" he whispered in a rough voice.

"No."

"Then why did you just tense up?"

I blew out a sigh. He knew exactly why I tensed up and I didn't know what kind of game he was playing. Either way, I wanted it to stop immediately. I shoved him off of me and scrambled out of the bed. He immediately rolled over to his back when I pushed him and he just continued to watch me intently. His hair was mussed from sleep and I had to clench my fists to keep my fingers from brushing across the silky strands. His cargo pants had slipped down his hips in his sleep and his tight black t-shirt had ridden up, exposing a swath of mocha latte toned abs and the top planes of his hipbones.

"You know why."

"Tell me."

"I don't know what you're playing at, but stop it. We've talked about this before and nothing has changed," I said as I fought back the tears that unexpectedly filled my eyes. Damn temperamental emotions.

"What if something has changed?" he asked softly.

Okay, too much for me to process without coffee. I just shook my head and turned to walk away. In a flash, Ranger was in front of me. "Is it too late?" he pressed.

Gah, what do I do? Any saint who's watching, feel free to jump in and I promise to say Hail Marys in your name until the cows come home.

I shook my head again and pulled away, dashing to the bathroom before he could say or do anything else. I was on the edge and it wouldn't take much to push me over.

I sat on the edge of the tub trying to reorient my now tilted world. Ranger had rocked the axis of my world and I was beyond confused by his behavior. Was this for real or was it simply his need to feel connected to someone, anyone, after the stress of this last mission?

Finally, I stood up, brushed my hair and teeth and then took a deep breath as I opened the door. Ranger was sitting on the side of the bed, steadily watching me as I opened the door. He didn't say a word but his stare was unnerving me.

I wandered off to towards the kitchen. Caffeine, I needed caffeine.

I heard the soft shush of fabric as Ranger followed me. I started the coffee maker and then fed Rex a baby carrot and a couple of hamster crunchies. I was stalling and I knew that Ranger knew that, but thankfully he didn't say anything about it.

The coffee maker beeped that it was done and I jumped slightly at the sound in the tomb-like silence of my apartment. I filled two mugs with coffee, slid one across the counter towards Ranger and added milk and sugar to my cup.

I carefully walked by Ranger without looking at him and sat down on the couch, I downed a big gulp of coffee and stared fixedly at the coffee table.

I felt the couch dip as Ranger sat down beside me. I didn't look up. I couldn't look up.

"Babe," he finally said softly. "Talk to me."

I sighed and took another gulp of coffee before turning to look at Ranger. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Seeing Marie get killed rattled me," he said, staring into my eyes. "For a split second, it was you. And I realized that losing you, not having you in my life, is too awful to consider."

I nervously chewed on my bottom lip again. "I hope we'll always be friends and in each other's lives," I told him.

"What I feel for you isn't just friendship."

I sighed. "I know. But we can't be what the other needs," I said gently, looking away.

He gently turned my chin so I was looking at him. He was just a hairsbreadth away, the slightest movement forward from either of us and we'd be kissing. I tried to pull back but he wouldn't let me. "What do you need?" he asked.

"More than you can give," I whispered, feeling like I was drowning in his intense brown gaze.

"Maybe I can give enough," he whispered back, his voice gravelly and deep.

"You would eventually regret it and I couldn't stand to see that," I told him with tears in my eyes. "It's better if we stay just friends."

"I could never regret anything with you."

I snorted softly and tried to pull my chin away from his hand. He slid his hand away from my chin but wrapped it around the back of my neck. Gulp! Then he leaned in slightly and brushed his lips against mine softly, so gently it almost like I was imagining it.

I struggled to reign in my emotions as Ranger tortured me with the soft and sweet kiss. I was used to hungry and passionate from him, not such a heartbreakingly sweet kiss.

"Please," I whispered quietly, not completely sure what I was asking him for.

"Please what, Babe?" he whispered against my lips. "I'll do anything for you."

I had to close my eyes to summon the inner strength to move away. Ranger reluctantly let me move but he kept his hand wrapped around my neck.

"Babe?"

"Ranger, please, please don't do this," I begged. I felt a tear slide down my face and he lifted one hand to gently wipe it away. I gulped hard, struggling mightily for control of my emotions.

"Why are you so scared?"

"Because I'm afraid all of this is because of Marie, not me. I'm afraid that it's stress and that you'll be fine in a week and feeling trapped. I'm afraid to get hurt again because I don't think I have it in me to do it again," I said the words fairly pouring out now. "I can't do this." Shit.

"Again?" he asked in surprise. "When have I hurt you before?"

"DeChooch," I said simply and there was a long and heavy pause.

After a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence, I tried to move away from him again. This time, he let me go. I picked up my coffee cup and took a sip. I grimaced. Ick, it was only lukewarm. Cold coffee is only good when it's supposed to be cold and it costs an arm and a leg at Starbucks. I stood up without a word and gathered the two barely touched mugs of coffee. I took them into the kitchen and I emptied both down the drain and rinsed the mugs.

I walked towards my bedroom without looking at Ranger. I closed the door softly behind me and collapsed onto my bed. Surprisingly, I didn't dissolve into tears. I just stared at the ceiling, understanding now why Ranger had been so entranced by the popcorn ceiling. It's not that the ceiling was interesting, just that my eyes needed something to do so they wouldn't fill with tears.

At some indeterminate point later, my cell phone started to chirp. I reached over to read the text message. "Are you okay?" Cal had written.

I texted him back. "Physically, yes. Emotionally & mentally is debatable. Why?"

Within seconds I had a reply. "What happened?"

I sighed. How the hell do I explain this when I don't even understand it myself. "Ranger came by last night. Had a very awkward talk. Don't know what the hell to do now."

Another instantaneous response from Cal. "Are you okay? Heard from the guys that he left in the middle of the night and never came back."

Guess that explained why he was checking on me. "I think so."

"Did he hurt you?" Cal replied.

"No."

"Did you hurt him?"

He probably meant that as a joke but he had no idea. "Pretty sure I did."

There was a thirty-second pause and I could almost see the look on Cal's face as he pondered that. "I'm on my way over," he finally replied.

"No. He's still here."

"Do you want him there?"

I have no freaking clue what the bloody hell I want. I guess I took too long thinking about it because my cell phone rang then. It was Cal.

"Yeah?" I said softly.

"Are you okay?"

"I will be," I said mostly to reassure Cal, but it helped reassure me a little bit too.

"Do you want me to come over and get Ranger to leave?" he asked in a very gentle tone, like I was a small child.

"No. I'm fine."

"You know I'm just a phone call away." He was so sweet.

"I know."

"Call me as soon as he's gone."

"Okay."

I hung up the phone and went back to contemplating my ceiling. At some point during my weighty deliberations, which got me no closer to any kind of answer, I must have dozed off. I woke up when Ranger pulled the blankets around me as he settled me into his arms.

"Wha?" I asked as I sat up in alarm.

"Shh, Babe, it's just me. Go back to sleep," he murmured as he slowly rubbed big circles on my back. I looked around for a minute before deciding that sleep actually sounded pretty good. So I snuggled back against the bed. And Ranger.

When I woke up later, it felt like my chest was on fire. I was wrapped around Ranger, plastered up to him and as his strong arms kept me so close there wasn't room for even a molecule of air between us. And Ranger is hot in many ways, including the fact that he puts out enough body heat to heat the whole apartment. So now I was on the verge of heat stroke. Kind of ironic when you consider how cool it was in the room otherwise. My toes and tush were freezing since Ranger had kicked off all of the blankets covering both of us, but my chest was pressed tightly against his and it felt like I was cuddling a radiator.

I tried to extricate myself from his arms, but my movements only made him clutch me more tightly. I saw a slight frown flitter across his face before he fell back asleep. Great, now not only was I going to be roasted to death but I was also going to suffocate since I could barely breathe given his tight grip.

"Ranger!" I squeaked, trying again to wiggle out of his grasp. He was squeezing me like I was his blankie and he was an anxious kid. Who was the little guy with the blanket in the Charlie Brown cartoons? He was clutching me like that.

I poked him in the ribs with my one free hand and he twisted away in his sleep, his grip slackening just enough so I could slither away quickly. I lay spread eagled on the side of the bed, panting to catch my breath while I felt the million or so degrees of Ranger body heat evaporating from my chest. The front of my t-shirt was damp with sweat, ick.

I slid out of the bed and padded silently into the bathroom. I took a quick shower before trying futilely to tame my wild hair. Fine, a ponytail day it is.

I slipped out of the bathroom and found Ranger still asleep on my bed. I silently grabbed some clothes and quickly changed in the corner, shooting suspicious glances at Ranger as I dropped the towel wrapped around my body for a split second before pulling on my clothes.

I pulled some of the blankets back up on the bed and very gently covered him. Then I closed the bedroom door before plopping down on the couch.

Okay, so think it through. Why are you feeling so anxious? Easy, because Ranger provokes anxiety. Why does he make you anxious? Because he has the power to grind your heart into teeny tiny little bits and then stomp on them with his combat boots. This is why I was trying to move on, to date new people. So what happened last night?

He told me that he'd seen a woman with passing resemblance to me shot and killed. Okay, so that trigged some sort of emotions from him, and he's not the guy who's exactly in touch with any kind of emotions most of the time. At least as far as I could tell.

So he's acting odd, overly protective of me with Lester of all people. Then he shows up in the middle of the night just to be sure I'm okay. Again, that stems from seeing Marie killed. Understandable emotions after watching someone die. I knew I'd gone through the emotional gamut when I'd killed Jimmy Alpha and Clyde Cone and they were bad guys who'd wanted to kill me.

So now he's saying that maybe things have changed, that maybe he could give me what I needed. It didn't add up. He'd spent years keeping me at arm's length, telling me over and over again that he couldn't do anything more than casual sex. But now he's here and possible offering more. No, it had to just be the stress getting to him. I guess even Batman has a bad day. Or week in this case.

No, it wasn't real, it was just a result of his emotional tumult after seeing Marie killed and the stress from the last trip. And he always got more physical when I was seeing Morelli, so knowing that I was dating other guys might also be playing into this. But he always had pulled back when I was single again and I couldn't see any reason why that would have changed other than because of his stress.

Okay, so I was just going to pretend like this day had never happened. Ranger was just having a PMS-kind of week and it was just a bunch of overactive hormones at play, nothing more.

I was slouched on the couch surfing the internet on my laptop when I heard the bedroom door open.

"Babe?" Ranger asked and I stuck my head up over the back of the sofa.

"On the couch," I called out, sitting up straighter so I could be seen. He looked all rumpled and sleepy and absolutely delicious. His hair was mussed and his eyes were a deep, dark brown that not even Hershey could replicate. His boots were on but untied. He'd straightened his clothes but he still looked warm and snuggly and I wanted desperately to drag him back to bed.

Okay, down girl. Get a grip. On yourself. Not him. Oh fuck.

"Why didn't you wake me up when you got up?" he asked quietly as he sat down beside me.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I tried and you nearly squished me."

He looked confused. "What?"

"You had hold of me like I was your security blanket. I had to poke you in the ribs to get you to let me go enough to breathe and slip away. I figured it was best not to irritate you any more so you wouldn't squeeze me in half," I said with an amused half smile.

He looked contrite. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"Nah, I'm good. You really seemed to want to stay asleep and I know better than to annoy someone who's that sleepy."

He quietly walked over and sat down next to me on the sofa. "Are you okay?" he asked again.

"Yep, I'm hunky dory."

"Babe."

"Ranger."

He sighed. Ah goody, I was making him nuts again. Better him than me. He'd already made me nuts.

"Stephanie," he said with a glint in his eyes that I didn't quite recognize. "We need to talk."

We most definitely did not. "Pretty sure we don't."

"Stephanie."

"Carlos."

That caught him off guard again but then his shock was replaced by a blinding smile.

"I like hearing my name on your lips," he said in a soft and rumbly tone. Ah crap. Mission failure. Abort! Abort!

I sat frozen in my seat, watching the grin on Ranger's face grow. Looks like my little plan backfired on me. He actually liked it when I called him Carlos. Well hell. I tried not to think about how much I liked calling him Carlos.

He leaned forward to kiss me and I scrambled off the couch faster than I thought was humanly possible. I also had to contort my body into unnatural positions that I probably couldn't have done two months ago. Guess all that dancing and working out did come in handy at times.

I stood in front of him with my hands on my hips and a glare on my face. He looked confused for a moment before his blank mask covered his face.

"Stop that!" I ordered.

"Stop what?" he asked in a carefully neutral tone.

"That! Kissing and touching and all that."

"Why?"

Jesus H. Christ! Did he get hit on the head while he was gone?

"Have you told Bobby about your concussion?"

He looked slightly confused. "What?"

"Clearly you got hit on the head or something affected your memory. I've told you no more of that shit and I've told you why. So you must have gotten your neurons scrambled if you've forgotten already," I replied.

"I told you, things are different now," he said as he slowly moved towards me. I quickly moved away, putting the kitchen peninsula between us. I crossed my arms over my chest and I'm sure I had a very angry expression on my face. I was more confused than angry, really, but I could deal with anger better.

"Stop."

"Babe, why don't you believe me?"

I sighed. Okay, I'd try one more time but if he tried to kiss me after this, I was going to smack him upside the head with my cookie jar. And with my old .38 in there, it would probably pack a punch.

"Okay, Ranger, let me break it down for you. For over three years now, you've consistently told me that you don't do relationships and anything more than friendship between us would be casual sex. And I've told you that I don't do casual sex. But now suddenly, after a really stressful mission, you've completely changed your whole philosophy of life? I don't buy it," I said.

"Babe," he started and I held up one hand.

"Please, let me finish." He nodded reluctantly. So I continued. "Look, I get that this was pretty awful for you and I'm sorry. I wish I could change it. But I just don't believe that pretty much everything about you has done a 180-degree flip. I think you've got some sort of PTSD or something. And I get that. I'm pretty sure I would be a complete nervous wreck if I had seen even half of what you've seen, so God knows you're due for a break. So take some time off. Clear your head. You'll thank me later," I told him.

He stared at me in silence for a moment, his blank mask still in place. "You done?" he asked. I nodded.

He moved in closer to me. "First, I don't have PTSD. I'm not having a nervous breakdown. I'm completely rational and of sound mind. Seeing Marie get shot didn't cause me to have a psychotic break. It just showed me how important you already are to me. It just clarified things for me, it didn't change anything," he said in a steady tone.

I had to harden my heart. A good chunk of my emotions were running around screaming "Yippee!" and I had to get those under control. I reminded myself of our shared past. He'd die for me, I'm almost positive he'd killed for me, but never once had he offered more than friends with benefits.

"I still think you need some time off, a nice long break," I insisted. "You're not acting like yourself and that's worrying me."

"I'm sorry to worry you. I don't want you to worry about me. I'm fine. I just want you to know how I feel."

I stood quietly, my arms still crossed over my chest. I really didn't know what to say.

"Do you believe me?" he asked.

I sighed. "I believe that's how you feel right now," I said, emphasizing the word now. "But I'm pretty sure that's not how you're going to feel in a week or two."

"Give it a chance. Us a chance."

Oh sweet kittens with mittens. "I can't. I'm sorry," I forced out between trembling lips. I wanted to say yes, I wanted to throw myself into his arms, but I also knew that this was a stress reaction and he'd be pushing me away and telling me to go back to Joe soon. And I knew I couldn't take that again.

"Stephanie, please," he whispered and I felt my resolve weaken. No! Stay strong, as much for Ranger's sake as for your own. He'd hate himself for hurting me in a couple of weeks when he realized I was right.

I shook my head no, too emotional to open my mouth to speak.

"So that's it then? You won't even give it a chance?" he said in a tone I couldn't interpret.

I nodded yes.

He leaned in closer, pinning me against the cabinets and wrapping his arms around me. I hazarded a quick glance at his face and was surprised to see a determined smile on his face. What the hell?

"Do you know what made me a good Ranger, Stephanie," he whispered against my ear as he nuzzled my neck. I had to suppress a shudder.

I silently shook my head no.

"I'm patient." Nibble. "I'm persistent. I'm focused." Nibble, nibble. "I always accomplish my goals. And now I have a new goal." He gently licked the shell of my ear. "You, Stephanie Michelle Plum, are now my goal. I love you, I need you in my life." Nibble. "And I will succeed," he murmured as he nibbled at the pulse point now pounding a staccato beat along the side of my neck just under my right ear.

He bit down gently on my ear lobe and I swear I heard the angels singing. He brushed a gentle kiss across my lips and then his lips were hard and demanding as Ranger shifted from gently seductive to hot and passionate in a heartbeat.

I gasped against his lips and he took advantage of the movement to slide his tongue into my mouth. It was like being devoured whole. He kissed, he tasted, he nibbled. He set my pulse racing, my mind reeling and my hormones dancing in glee.

For the second time in a day, he had molded me so tightly against him that I was sure he could feel my heart racing in my chest. His hands were everywhere. I would have sworn in court that he magically grew more hands.

Then, as quick as it had begun, he pulled back slightly, kissed me gently and then vanished.

I felt my knees quiver and I had to brace my arms against the countertop to keep from sliding to the floor in a puddle of goo. I heard the slight click as my door closed, and then another click that told me that Ranger had locked the door behind him.

I stared at the kitchen floor in silence for a minute before blowing out a sigh and trying to release my tumultuous emotions. The confusion decided to stay. So did the arousal. Shit.

Oh crap. I was in deep trouble.

_**Author's note: **__Okay, bring it on! I know some of you won't be happy with me for not having Stephanie believe him, but hopefully I was able to explain my rationale sufficiently in the chapter itself. I can't wait to see your comments, so hit me with your best shot!_

_As far as the health goes, it's still the same. No news from the last round of tests, which I'm trying to take as a positive since (presumably) they would call if I was about to die or something. Right? They did change my appointment to ensure they would have all the results back when I met with the cardiologist, so now I have to wait another week. And I don't do waiting very well. Still feeling rather exhausted and crappy, which is why it's taken me so long to post. My apologies, but I did try to get a longer chapter for you this time, so hopefully that makes up for it a bit._

_Now for a question: in the next chapter, Stephanie goes out with her Merry Men to try to process everything that's happened. I've got two ways to go with it here, and I think either could be amusing. So what's the preference: Ranger shows up while she's out with them or Ranger's waiting at her apartment when she eventually returns home? I can't promise to necessarily follow the will of the group, but I think a bit of feedback from you guys will help me figure out which direction to take this in._

_Hope everyone has a great weekend!_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter 13**_

I finally mustered the energy to drag myself over to the couch, where I flopped down to think.

My grumbling stomach eventually convinced me that it was time to drag my ass off the couch and in search of food. I poked around in the cabinets but I didn't find anything interesting or enticing.

I went in search of my cell phone to call for pizza delivery, and I finally found it squished down in between the sofa cushions. It must have slid out of my pocket when I was sitting on the couch earlier.

I had three missed calls and fourteen new text messages. I scrolled through my texts and had to smile when I saw that Cal's messages had gone from casual 'Hey, call me when you get a chance' to 'Oh my freaking God, where are you? Are you dead? Please don't be dead!'

I called Cal and he answered immediately. "Are you okay?" he nearly shouted into the phone.

I stifled a giggle. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Holy shit, don't do that to me ever again. I was debating breaking into your apartment but then I was worried that maybe you weren't calling for a good reason and you and Ranger were doing a little something that my innocent eyes shouldn't see."

I snorted. "Your eyes haven't been innocent since you were a toddler."

He laughed out loud. "So I wouldn't have walked in on some hanky panky?"

I sighed. The silence lengthened. "You and Ranger?" he chuckled.

"No!" I exclaimed.

"Then what would I have seen?" he asked.

"Oh hell, I don't know how to explain any of this without copious quantities of beer."

"Fine. I'll be over in a few and get you nice and drunk so you can explain."

Then he hung up. These guys were in serious need of phone etiquette training. Grr.

Cal knocked perfunctorily on the front door about a half hour later. I'd taken the time to make myself look presentable. I had every intention of getting somewhat shit faced but I wanted to start out the evening looking a least a little bit attractive.

"Hey," I said as I opened the door. Cal was flanked by Bobby and Lester, one on each side, and Cal did not look happy. In fact, Cal looked like he was about to kill someone and I could only hope it wouldn't be me.

"Uh, Cal, where'd ya pick up the hitchhikers?" I asked.

"Sons of bitches followed me and won't take the fucking clue and go the fuck away," Cal growled.

"We heard you were getting drunk so we very kindly offer our services," Lester said with a shit-eating grin. "Figured you might need Bobby to keep you from keeling over."

I rolled my eyes. "You told them, didn't you?" I asked Cal. It was pretty much a rhetorical question. There's no way Bobby and Lester would have let it go once Cal said I was getting drunk. They'd have driven him completely nuts with questions until he caved. Yeah, big, strong, scary, tattoo-headed Cal was a pushover sometimes. He could have probably handled Gitmo-style interrogation but Lester and Bobby would have pushed his buttons until he confessed his every secret. And my every secret.

With a sigh, I opened my door wider. The guys trooped in, Cal still fuming, Lester smiling hugely and Bobby looking like his usual nosy self.

"I've not had anything to drink yet, so I'm so not going to answer any questions until I'm feeling happy," I told them as they turned on me with three matching inquisitive looks on their faces.

Lester grabbed my purse, Cal wrapped me in my jacket and Bobby opened the door. I was frog marched down the stairs and into Cal's big king cab pickup truck. I turned on the radio and cycled through the stations until I found a station doing an 80s flashback. The musical stylings of Billy Joel blared from the speakers.

Cal pulled into the parking lot of the Bahama Mama bar and let out an audible sigh of relief as the 80s music abruptly ended. Cal was not a Billy Joel fan. Sacrilege, I know.

We walked into the bar and the guys claimed the big round table in the back. I seriously need to figure out how they always get the back table against the wall in any restaurant, bar or dive. It's spooky.

After a few minutes, a waitress ambled over to take our order. I opened my mouth to speak but Lester beat me to it. "Pitcher of strawberry margarita and a pitcher of beer," he ordered. I glared at him and he flashed me a crooked smile. "It's five o'clock somewhere," he assured me.

Then Bobby and Cal pretty much ordered every appetizer on the menu and the waitress smiled, already anticipating a big tip.

She was back with the drinks within moments, promising that the first round of food would be out in a few minutes.

Lester poured me a big honking glass of the margarita while Cal poured the guys beers. We clinked glasses and I started on my downward spiral towards oblivion.

After I'd drunk about half of my first margarita, Lester instantly refilled my glass. I rolled my eyes. At this rate, I'd only be both happy and conscious for about two minutes. Bahama Mama made their mixed drinks strong and I was already buzzing slightly.

Cal pushed a plate of chicken wings towards me and I started nibbling.

"You happy yet?" Lester asked.

"Working my way towards not completely despondent," I told him with a slight grin.

He sat back with a smile. "Good girl. Keep on drinking then."

Two minutes later, Bobby's burning curiosity got the better of him and he started the interrogation. "So what happened, Bombshell?"

Let the inquisition begin.

"Ranger showed up."

Silence for a few seconds. "And?" Lester prodded.

"And it was really, really weird and I have no freaking clue what I'm supposed to do."

"Tell Uncle Lester all about it."

"Eww, Les! Not a good mental image!" I laughed. I so did not want to think of Lester as my uncle. I had kissed him before, after all, and that was just gross.

Cal rolled his eyes. It was a pretty good effort, I'd give it an eight out of ten. "Just tell us what happened."

"Okay, so I was asleep and I woke up just knowing that someone was there. So I grabbed my stun gun and flipped on the lights," I started, pausing to sip my margarita.

"And Ranger was there?" Bobby asked.

"And Ranger was there," I agreed.

"Then what?" Cal prodded.

"He was just sitting there, watching me. I tried to get him to talk to me but he wouldn't. He just seemed so sad, I've never seen him like that. Then he was shivering because he was only in a t-shirt and it was pretty dang chilly. I pulled him over to the bed and covered him up with the blankets. He just stared at the ceiling, wouldn't talk to me or even look at me. I checked, my ceiling is boring," I told them.

"So then what?" Lester asked.

"Then we fell asleep."

"So that's it?" Bobby asked in disbelief.

"No."

"Then spill," Lester ordered as he poured me another margarita.

"Slow it down, Les, or I'm going to be drunk off my ass before we get halfway through the story," I told him. He grinned but continued pouring drinks for everyone. "So then I wake up and he's still asleep. He wakes up a few minutes later."

I sighed and took a big gulp. "So then he tells me how this last trip was bad, how some of the people he was working with got killed. Including a woman who looked kind of like me."

"Ah," Cal said as he leaned closer. "The plot thickens."

I rolled my eyes at his cheesiness. "Whatever. So he says that seeing her die freaked him out because just for a second, he thought it was me."

The guys exchanged looks. That pissed me off. "What the hell is that? Just say it!" I ordered.

Lester spoke. "So I'm guessing that was a trigger of sorts."

I shrugged. "I guess. He said that he nearly stopped breathing for a minute and that he was being so protective of me because he had to make sure I was okay. He'd come to my apartment to make sure I was okay."

Bobby nodded at me to continue. "I told him I was fine."

Cal snorted. I glared.

"Then he asked me why I thought he freaked out like that," I continued.

"I bet you had some sort of smartass come back," Lester said with a grin.

I nodded and smiled slightly. "Something like that. He didn't find it as funny as it was, of course."

"Of course," Bobby intoned with a grin.

"So then he started asking if he'd already lost me," I said quietly, my eyes focused unseeingly on my drink. Cal wrapped one massive arm around my shoulder and pulled me to him.

"What did you say?" he asked gently.

I sighed. "What the hell was I supposed to say? I tried to avoid the question."

Silence for a moment before Lester gestured for me to continue.

"So I told him didn't matter, that all we could be was friends, that it was already complicated enough. He didn't like that." Bobby started laughing, but he tried to cover his laughter by coughing. He sucked at it, I totally knew he was laughing.

"An understatement, I'm sure," Cal said drily.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Bite me."

"I hope you didn't make that offer to Ranger," Cal retorted with a grin. I flipped him off and his grin grew wider. He was enjoying this. Bastard.

"So then what?" Bobby asked, caught up in the soap opera drama that was my life.

"So," I said, trying to continue my story over the sounds of their merriment, "I told him he would eventually regret changing our friendship and that I didn't want that. He said he'd never regret it."

"So then I left him in the living room and went into the bedroom. That's when I talked to you," I said looking at Cal.

"Then what?" Cal asked.

"I fell back asleep."

Cal laughed. I rolled my eyes at him and took another sip. "Then I woke up when Ranger got back into the bed with me."

Lester waggled his eyebrows at me and I threw a napkin at him. He caught it with a laugh.

"No, you perv," I told Lester with a mock glare. "It was just sleeping, nothing more."

"Then I woke up pretty much convinced I was on fire," I told them. They looked confused.

"What?" Bobby asked.

"Ranger was clutching me like a security blanket. I couldn't move, I could barely breathe, and he just squeezed me tighter every time I tried to get away. And he puts out a freaking ton of body heat, he's the real cause of global warming. So I felt like I was being roasted and suffocated at the same time."

Lester chuckled. "Obviously you got away in one piece."

"Yep. But it took some effort."

I took another big drink of my margarita. "So then he starts in on it again. Tried to kiss me and I ran away. Told him to stop it. Tried to make a joke out of it but he wasn't in the mood for jokes, I guess. He asked why I was being that way and I told him it was because I didn't really believe that his feelings, hell, his whole freaking world view, could have changed that dramatically that quickly. That it was just the stress of everything. That we should just stay friends."

"I'm guessing he didn't like that," Lester guessed. I shot him an 'are you stupid?' look.

"When he tried to argue with me, I pretty much told him he'd lost his mind or had PTSD or something and that he was talking crazy. That he needed a vacation," I said.

Bobby burst out laughing, not even trying to hide it. Lester was chuckling too and I kicked him under the table. He just laughed harder.

"Oh, God," Bobby gasped, "I'd love to have seen his face."

I shot him an evil look that made him stop laughing instantly. "You'll get yours one day, Brown," I promised.

He looked contrite. "Sorry, Steph. I know this is hard for you."

I put my head down on the table and thunked it against the table a few times. "Then he asked me to just give him a chance."

There was silence. "Then what happened?" Bobby asked.

I sighed and lifted my head. "I told no, that he'd feel differently in a few weeks once he'd had time to really think and deal with things."

I looked up in time to see Lester and Bobby exchange a significant look, but I couldn't figure out what was so significant about it. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing," Lester said quickly. "Then what happened?"

I slumped against Cal. "This is the part that I don't know how to deal with. So, then he said that the reason he was a good ranger was because he was, how did he put it?, persistent, patient and focused. That's why he always accomplished his goals. And that I was his new goal."

I groaned and covered my face with my hands. When I looked up, Lester had a smirk on his face so I kicked him. Again.

"Stop that," I ordered.

He tried to look innocent. He failed. Miserably. "Stop what?" he asked.

"Smirking. This is not funny."

"It kind of is from my perspective," he said with a slight grin.

"Then you are in severe need of psychiatric assistance," I told him.

Bobby laughed. "She's right, man," he said as he punched Lester in the arm.

"So I guess now I have to quit and go back to skip chasing for Vinnie," I said with a sigh. "And I'll miss all of you."

"Whoa, Angel," Cal said. "First, we're not that easy to get rid of. So it's not like you'd stop hanging out with us if you left RangeMan. Second, you can't quit."

"And why the hell can't I quit?" I asked indignantly.

"Because you signed a contract and because you're too damn ornery to let him win this easily."

Fuck. He was right. I had signed a contract and I did really like my job and my coworkers. I didn't really want to go back to rolling in garbage chasing skips who didn't want to be caught.

"Then what do I do?" I nearly wailed.

"First, you have another margarita," Lester said as he poured me yet another big glass of the frothy pink liquid. "Then we help you strategize."

"I'm so not drinking alone," I said as I pushed Lester's beer closer to him. "So drink up, me hearties, there's plenty of grog to go around."

Okay, so maybe I am starting to get a little bit trashed if I'm quoting pirate movies. Whatever.

_**Author's note: **__Sorry for the insanely long delay. Things have been very busy at work and still no real word on the whole heart wanting to run a marathon while the rest of me sits on my tushy at work. They sent more stuff off for more testing so hopefully I'll get some kind of diagnosis at my appointment on Monday. I hope they figure it out so I can start feeling better soon._

_Hope you enjoy this short-ish chapter! I'll try to get the next chapter as soon as I figure out exactly which direction to go. I've written two possible versions and I can't decide which one I like better but I'll try to pick tonight and get it posted ASAP._

_Please review!_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter 14**_

I don't really remember much about the next few hours. I'm told that it involved karaoke, dancing and lots more booze. I have to take their word for it. I don't have a clue.

The shrill ringing of my cell phone woke me the next morning. I was being roasted alive again but I was too sleepy and yes, hung over, to pay much attention. I sat up and looked around before finally spotting my purse on a chair in the corner of the room. I had to crawl out of bed on my hands and knees since something had me trapped in the bed.

"Uuunhhhh?" I groaned into the phone and even that sound made the sadistic little gnomes in my head start swinging their ice picks into my brain.

"Babe, are you okay? Where are you?" It was Ranger. Great, exactly what I needed. Not.

"Huh?" I repeated again, waiting for the swirls of nausea to retreat.

"You're not at your apartment. So where are you?" he asked again patiently. He sounded amused.

"Hell if I know," I told him as I looked around the room. It was not my apartment, that was for sure.

"Are you okay?" he asked again, sounding concerned as I staggered towards what I assumed was the bathroom.

"Yes. Now let me die in peace," I said as I hung up the phone and renewed my acquaintance with the porcelain god.

After taking care of business, I brushed my teeth with the toiletries in the bathroom. While in the bathroom, I'd discovered that I was wearing someone else's t-shirt. From the gargantuan size, I was guessing it was Cal's. I still had on my underwear, which was a relief, but I had no idea where my clothes were.

I staggered back into the bedroom, my head the size of Montana, and I silently swore that I would never, ever drink again.

It appeared to be a hotel room. There was a California king sized bed and a small roll out cot. The bed was occupied by two snoring lumps and there was another lump on the roll out cot. I stumbled my way over to the cot. Bobby.

I had to squint and hold on to the wall for support as I made my way back to the bed. Lester was on one side and Cal on the other. There was an open space in the middle that I assumed had been my spot. Guess that solved the mystery of why I was so hot when I first woke up.

I poked Cal and he growled in his sleep. Okay, not waking him up. I stumbled around to the other side of the bed and poked Lester. He snorted and then turned over, but he didn't wake up.

I crawled over top of Lester and inserted myself back under the covers. I needed to sleep it off too.

My phone rang again later. I heard Cal groan into it. Then there was a crash and I was guessing that my cell phone had departed for cell phone heaven. RIP.

I fell back asleep. At some point later, there was loud hammering on the door. I groaned and buried my head under the pillow.

I heard cursing coming from somewhere in my vicinity and then a loud thud. I'd almost made it back to sleep when I heard the door being yanked open.

"What?" Bobby snarled.

I peeked up. It was Ranger and he looked almost as startled as Bobby. It would be funny if the thought of laughing didn't make me want to puke again.

"Brown?" Ranger said. "Where's Stephanie?" He sounded confused.

Bobby stared at Ranger for a moment before he turned and pointed at the bed.

Footsteps approached. My strength had given out so I'd collapsed back into my little nest between Lester and Cal.

"What the fuck?" Ranger sounded incredulous.

I summoned the strength to raise my head. He stood there, his hands on his hips, and a ferocious frown on his face.

"It's not my fault," I muttered as I laid my aching head back down on the pillow.

Ranger glowered at us.

I groaned into my pillow and elbowed Lester in the ribs. "Wake up," I told him over the pounding in my head and the desert in my mouth.

"Oh shit, how much did we fucking drink?" he moaned.

"Don't know. Too much. Wake the hell up and deal with your cousin."

"What?"

"Santos!" Ranger barked.

"Oh fuck!" Lester groaned. I agreed but talking hurt too damn much.

I felt Lester slide out of the bed and then there was a thump followed by a groan. Guess he hadn't quite mastered the art of walking just yet. I saw a flash of black as Ranger apparently hauled Lester to his feet and drug him, literally, into the living room.

I turned over and curled against Cal before going back to sleep. I knew we were in deep shit but I was too hung over to care about anything other than sleeping it off.

I woke up a few minutes later when Ranger ripped the blankets off the bed before dragging Cal away. This was not a smart a move on Ranger's part, actually. Cranky Cal is really a sight to behold. From a distance of at least twenty feet.

Cal came awake with a bloodcurdling growl and immediately slugged Ranger in the face with his left fist and followed up with an uppercut to the solar plexus with his right. Air whooshed out of Ranger's lips before he dropped Cal to the ground. Cal rolled to his side and lay still.

I fell out of the bed and crawled the six or so feet to Cal's prone body on my hands and knees. "Bobby!" I called out and immediately grabbed my head and groaned.

Bobby staggered in, his steps unsteady.

"What?" he asked.

"Ranger dropped Cal," I said as I turned an accusatory glare on Ranger. "Bastard," I muttered under my breath as I gently lifted Cal's head into my lap.

"What the hell is going on here?" Ranger roared and Bobby and I both winced at the sound.

"Shh," I admonished and I tried to keep my head from exploding in to fourteen different pieces from the noise.

Ranger squatted down in front of me. "What the hell is going on here, Babe?" he asked in a softer voice.

I glared at him and pushed him away. He rocked back on his haunches but didn't fall. I bent over with a low groan in my throat and rested my head on Cal's forehead, which was still in my lap.

I felt a hand on my neck. "Push against my hand," Bobby said and I tried to push my head up. It hurt like a bitch but it helped with the nausea and dizziness.

"I'm never drinking with you guys again," I swore. "How many freaking margaritas did you give me?"

Bobby chuckled very lightly. "Too damn many."

I snorted. No shit, Sherlock. I could still feel Ranger's presence on the other side of me but I was trying strenuously to ignore him. Bobby vanished for a couple of minutes and then came back with a whole fist full of ibuprofen and a big steaming mug of coffee.

I lifted my head wearily to pop the pills in my mouth and swallow a few sips of coffee. It tasted bitter and acrid on my tongue, but I was hoping the magic elixir would help.

I flopped onto my back, Cal's head still in my lap. I didn't even care that Ranger and Bobby were getting a view, I just wanted the drugs to kick in soon.

I was lifted up off the floor and my stomach immediately started in with the whirlies. I closed my eyes and tried to keep myself from getting sick. I was laid gently on the bed and the blankets were pulled up over me. I curled into my pillow and searched with my left arm until I found another pillow, which I stuck over my head.

I felt Cal's body being put back in the bed too and I curled up against him. I took a peek at him to make sure he was okay. He opened his eyes, shot Ranger a truly evil glare and then pulled me up against his side. I'm not sure if he was really awake or not.

When I woke up the next time, there was a McDonalds bag and cup sitting on the night stand. I had to crawl over Cal to get it but it was worth it. I munched a few fries and then waved a handful under Cal's nose. His nose twitched like a bunny's, or Samantha on Bewitched, and then his bloodshot eyes slowly opened.

"Open," I said and he opened his mouth. I fed him like a little bird and popped a few fries in his mouth. He chewed and then swallowed. After a minute or two, he made some inarticulate noise in his chest and opened his mouth again. I put in more fries and he chewed more.

Finally, he sat up and took a long drink from my paper cup of Coke. We shared the fries and the Coke before trying to take stock of our situation. It didn't look good. I had on Cal's shirt and no pants. Cal had on a pair of boxers but no other clothes. Thank God he didn't go commando like Ranger or we'd really have a lot to explain. I tried to remember what Les and Bobby had been wearing but it was too fuzzy.

"I am never drinking with you again," I told him.

He groaned. "I'm never drinking again, period. I haven't been this hung over since I was a recruit."

"I'd give you back your shirt but I don't know where my clothes are," I told him apologetically.

The door to the hotel room opened then and Ranger strode back into the room, with a rather disheveled pair of Merry Men behind him. Lester and Bobby looked like they were somewhat less hung over than me, but not by too much.

Ranger threw a bundle of clothes at Cal. Cal's hand-eye coordination was a slight bit off so it bonked off his tattooed forehead before landing in his lap. Whoopsie.

Ranger shook his head slightly in disbelief before placing a bag in my lap. I peeked in it. Yay, clothes.

Cal let me have the bathroom first, so I went in and took a quick shower before getting dressed. I went into the living room to find a hung over Bobby and Lester mainlining coffee. "Where'd he go?" I asked as I took the cup out of Lester's hand and drank it in one big gulp.

"We convinced him to leave," Bobby said in a gravelly voice. "He wasn't happy, but we told him you'd be less than pleased if you came out and he was still here, since you left to get away from him and all."

I nodded and then winced when it made my head hurt. "Good call."

I sat down at the table and put my head on my arms. "Why the hell did we drink so much?" I asked.

"Hell if I know," Les growled. "But it was a damn stupid idea."

"No shit, Sherlock," I moaned. "I feel like death warmed over."

"I think we all do," Cal opined as he flopped down on the couch.

We were all silent for a long time, probably because the idea of talking made us all want to puke. I don't think I'd ever been this hung over before. It sucked. I'm never doing this again.

We continued to drink coffee for a while before Bobby made us switch to plain water. He must own stock in Aqua Fina or something based on the number of bottles of water he made us all drink. I spent the early afternoon alternating between drinking another bottle of water forced on me by Bobby and rushing to the bathroom to get rid of the previous bottle of water.

We did eventually check out with a bare minimum of conversation. None of us were up to talking yet. Cal dropped me off at my apartment and promised to call me later.

I still felt like death warmed over but at least most of my hangover symptoms had abated. I opened the door to my apartment and dragged myself in.

I tapped on the side of Rex's cage and the wood shavings quivered slightly but he didn't come out. I sat my purse down on the kitchen counter and turned to trudge towards the bathroom for a much-needed shower when I saw Ranger sitting on the couch staring at me.

I shrieked in fright and clutched my chest.

Ranger smirked slightly. "Need to be…"

I interrupted him. "If you tell me to be more aware of my surroundings, I will shoot you," I threatened.

His lips quirked slightly.

I rolled my eyes at him and did a u-turn, heading back towards the kitchen. I got myself a glass of water and dug in my purse until I found a bottle of ibuprofen. I swallowed a few and then chugged down the entire glass of water to replenish my dehydrated body.

I slumped against the counter and ran my hand over my face. "So why are you here?" I finally asked Ranger when I couldn't take the silence any longer.

"Looking for you." Well, no duh. He probably wasn't looking for the Loch Ness monster in my apartment. I shot him an irate look and his lips twitched ever so slightly. He was amused by my irritation. Bastard.

I gestured for him to continue.

"I was worried about you," he said. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," I told him.

He quirked one eyebrow at me. "And why is that?"

"Because even I don't believe how dumb I was," I said as I refilled the glass of water. "Let's just leave it at the fact that I'm never drinking again."

There was a momentary pause.

"I really need to shower and go to sleep now, so the inquisition will have to wait," I told him. Until hell froze over.

"Babe."

"Ranger. Go away," I said with a tired sigh as I trudged into my crappy bathroom and started shucking my clothes.

I heard the door start to open as I climbed into the shower. "You better have to pee like crazy. If you're coming in here for any other reason than an overwhelming need to empty your bladder, I will shoot you," I called out.

"I doubt you've got a gun in there, Babe," Ranger replied, amusement lacing his tone.

"Fine, then I'll shoot you when I'm done with my shower. Get out, Ranger," I replied as I adjusted the water temperature.

"Babe."

"I'm not kidding."

"I'm good in the shower, Babe," Ranger called out in a husky tone as the door opened wider.

"You know what I'm good at, Ranger?" I asked.

"What's that, Babe?" I had piqued his interest.

"Getting revenge. Go ask Joe about that. Get out of my bathroom right now!"

"Babe."

I sighed. "Ranger."

"Babe, we need to talk."

Hell to the no. "Go. Away."

He sighed. "We will talk about this, Babe."

When pigs fly and I poop rainbows. I stuck my head under the water and moaned at the sensation of hot water pounding my throbbing skull.

"Babe," Ranger said in a strangled voice.

"I can't deal with you now. Go away. Please," I said, practically begging. I was too emotionally exhausted and hung over to deal with him.

He sighed again. I was really getting to him. "Fine, Babe. But I'll be back," he promised. Threatened?

I grinned slightly at the threat. "So are you changing your nickname to 'The Terminator' now?" I asked.

"Babe."

"Bye, Ranger."

I heard the door close and I sighed in relief. I finished my shower, forced myself to drink another bottle of water and then collapsed on my bed.

I woke up several hours later when I heard my front door open. I pried open my eyes and squinted into the dark apartment. Guess I'd been asleep for a while if it was dark now.

A huge shape appeared in my doorway. "Cal?" I asked.

"Yeah, Angel. Just wanted to check on you, make sure you were okay."

He's so sweet. I sat up in bed. "I think I'm okay."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like crap," I replied honestly. "You?"

"Shit," he confirmed. "We're never doing that again."

"Fine by me!"

"Want to go get some food?"

"Yeah, give me a minute to get changed," I told him as I pushed back the blankets. "Could you flip on the light?"

He didn't reply but the room was suddenly flooded with light. I groaned as it hit my still sensitive eyes.

Five minutes later, I was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt as I walked into the living room. I flopped down on the couch next to Cal and leaned my head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and hugged me.

"Ranger was waiting on me when I got home," I told him.

"What happened?"

"I told him to go away or I'd shoot him."

Cal laughed, and then groaned. "How'd that work?"

"Well enough, I guess, since he left. Eventually."

Cal shook his head. "Let's go eat. What do you want?" he asked.

"Pino's work for you?"

He nodded. "Of course."

We headed out to eat. And just because it was already such a fantastic day for me, Joe was there with some of his cop buddies and wanted to talk. I want a do over of this entire day.

I told Cal to order me a meatball sub and that I'd join him in a minute. "Hey, Joe. What's up?"

"You dating Manoso's men now too?" he asked snidely.

Not anymore, but I didn't want to talk about that. "I'm not going to talk about my love life with you, Joe. Did you need anything else?"

He looked chagrinned for a minute before he scowled at me again. "When are you going to grow up, Cupcake? I won't wait on you forever."

"This is as grown up as I'm going to get. And I don't want you to wait on me, Joe. We just want different things in life, and trying to make them fit together just doesn't work."

"Cupcake," he said, that familiar pleading look in his eyes. I held up a hand.

"Please, Joe. I hope we can stay friends, you mean a lot to me. But a romantic relationship between us just didn't work, no matter how hard we tried."

He stared at me for a long moment. "Are you sure?"

I smiled sadly. "I'm sure. I wish it wasn't this way, but we just want different lives, and I don't see either of us changing what we want."

Joe nodded sadly. "I just want you to be happy."

"You too."

There was an awkward pause. "Maybe we could still hang out sometime?" Joe asked. "Just as friends. We were good friends if nothing else."

"That would be nice. Give me a call sometime."

Another awkward pause. I think I preferred the hangover to having this conversation. "I'll let you get back to your date," Joe finally said.

"Not a date, just dinner with my partner," I corrected gently.

"I heard you were working for RangeMan full time now," he said.

"Yeah. But I shouldn't leave Cal alone anymore or he'll get cranky. And a cranky partner is not fun."

"You're telling me!" Joe said with an actual amused smile. "You were a bear if you didn't get enough sleep."

"Bite me, Morelli," I told him with a grin. "You weren't exactly Mary Sunshine all the time either!"

Joe laughed and I took the opportunity to leave on a high note. So I waved goodbye and skeedaddled over to the table where Cal was waiting.

"You okay?" Cal asked.

"This day sucks," I told him as I sucked greedily on my Diet Coke. "Just had to reassure Joe that we were indeed broken up for good. I think he got it this time though."

"You want to talk about it."

"Hell no. I want to eat. That's it," I said.

Cal grinned. "I can do quiet. But can you?"

I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed. I was tired enough that being mostly quiet wasn't a hardship. Cal dropped me back off at my apartment, clearing my apartment first to make sure Ranger wasn't hiding there waiting on me. Again.

Cal and I had the evening shift the next day so at least I got to sleep in the next morning.

_**Author's note: **__Thank you for all of the reviews! They are wonderful and I do a little happy dance when I read each one._

_One the medical front, I got nada. Seriously, they don't know what caused the problems with my heart. My cardiologist basically told me to call her again if there were other problems, but otherwise to have a nice life. My endocrinologist is at least willing to listen when I said I still felt tired all the time and she's trying me out on a new medicine that will hopefully (fingers crossed) help._

_So the good news is that there are no major structural or electrical problems with my heart, for which I am incredibly grateful. But I do wish I knew what caused the problems in the first place so I could avoid it in the future. But I guess I'll just have to take what I can get and hope it doesn't happen again._

_Thank you more than words can say for your support and encouragement as I've been trying to deal with this. Keep your fingers crossed that the new medicine will help with my energy levels so I can get back to a regular posting schedule!_

_Please review, they make my day!_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Change of plans, Steph," Cal said when I walked onto the fifth floor at eight the next evening. I was no longer hung over, thank God, but I wasn't feeling my absolutely finest.

"What's up?"

"We just got a tip that a high-dollar skip is at the club. You up for a distraction tonight?"

"I'll have to go back home and change," I told him, looking down at my black shirt and cargos. "I don't think I'm all that distracting right now."

"I disagree," came a silky response from behind me.

I shrieked and jumped about three feet. "Ranger! Don't do that!"

He had the thinking about smiling look on his face. "I'm serious. Don't do that!" Cal just chuckled at me.

"I'll take you back to change, Babe," Ranger said. "I'll be happy to help you pick out something more distracting."

I forced myself not to hyperventilate at the promise in his tone. Cal shot me an amused glance. "Your red dress from the other night is still in my apartment. Would that work?" he offered.

I grinned at him. "You tell me."

Cal chuckled. "It was pretty damn distracting."

Ranger fumed behind me but I just ignored him. "I think I have enough makeup and crap in my purse to go from security to slut, so I'll just be the lady in red then. Can I borrow your keys?" I asked Cal.

"I need to change into tactical gear," he said. "So I'll walk down with you."

"'Kay. Let's go, it takes a lot of work to look that effortlessly slutty!" I said as I walked off with Cal. I could feel Ranger's eyes on my back but I struggled to ignore them.

I'd already showered and thankfully I had shaved, so it didn't take as long as usual to slut up the hair and makeup. My utilitarian sports bra definitely didn't work with the halter-top dress, but luckily it had a built in bra so I wasn't going completely braless. My cotton boy cut briefs didn't work all that great with the dress, but it was more loose and flirty so my panty line wasn't noticeable. And if the skip got close enough to determine that I had a modest briefs rather than something sexier, I had much bigger problems.

Less than a half-hour later, I walked out of the elevator onto the fifth floor. No freaking way was I going take the stairs even one flight in the strappy four-inch high fuck me pumps.

"Hot damn, Beautiful!" Lester said as I walked in. "You're walking sin."

"Santos!" Ranger growled. Lester ignored him, he had plenty of practice at it.

"Slutty enough, boys?" I asked in a husky drawl.

I got a cacophony of catcalls and whistles from the guys, who were all dressed in their black combat gear. The room was full of testosterone as they planned the capture. It was hot as hell, let me tell you.

"So what's the plan, guys?" I asked. I'd only done one other distraction since being a full-time employee, but they'd been pretty open in telling me the plans then. It could have also been that Ranger was gone.

"Bobby, Woody and Ram are already in as customers and are keeping an eye on the skip. Report is that our guy likes 'em real feisty so being yourself should be fine," Lester told me as he slung one arm around my shoulder. I stuck out my tongue at him. "The rest of us will be outside waiting for you to work your magic," he continued.

"What did he do?" I asked. Please God don't let him be a homicidal rapist.

"Insurance fraud to the tune of over a million big ones," Lester told me.

"Phew! At least it's not a wife beating rapist!"

"Maybe next time," Lester told me. I rolled my eyes. "Jorge Sanchez thinks he's the original Latin lover and the best dancer since John Travolta. So you might have to break out some moves."

"I can do that. Anything else?" I asked.

"Nope," Lester said as he handed me a sheaf of photos and his file. "We ready to roll?"

"Let's blow this joint!" I said as I grabbed my purse.

The guys headed towards the stairs while I waited for the elevator. Ranger followed me. Gulp.

Ranger stood so close to me I could feel the body heat emanating from him. He was dressed in his black SWAT gear and it was all I could do to keep from throwing myself at him. It was only the knowledge that it would be emotional suicide that kept me still.

"Babe," he whispered as he crowded me into the corner with his broad shoulders. "You look beautiful."

I tried to smile at him. "Thank you."

"Do I make you uncomfortable?"

YES! HELL YES! "Not at all," I lied. "Just getting ready for the job."

"Babe."

"Ranger."

"We need to talk about the other night."

Nope. I have to focus on getting the skip out, I can't deal with emotional crap too. "Not right now. I don't want to be distracted."

The doors mercifully slid open then. "Soon," he murmured as he stepped back and let me out of the elevator.

The guys were waiting in the parking lot. I bounded over to Cal and Lester, moving faster than I thought possible in such high heels, and clambered in the back of the waiting black SUV.

I could almost feel Ranger's smile that I was avoiding riding with him, but I needed to be out of his sphere to get my mind in the game.

Lester kept up a running stream of chatter to distract me while on the way to the club. "You going to be okay to do this?" he asked as we neared the club.

"Yeah. But stick close by. I have a funny feeling about it," I told them. I wasn't sure why, but my Spidey senses were tingling.

"Spidey senses?" Cal asked.

"Yeah."

"What's going on?" Cal asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. It could be all the shit with Ranger. But I'm just feeling… unsettled," I finally said.

"You want to call it off?" Lester asked.

"No. Just have the feeling that you guys should stick close."

Lester helped me to climb out of the SUV without flashing anyone. "You know it," he whispered in my ear as he gave me a quick hug. "We'll be right here if you need anything."

I shot him a quick grin and walked over to where the other cars had parked and the men in black were congregating.

Ranger stepped towards me with the wire box. I snatched it out of his hands and then hid briefly behind Cal while I stuck it under my boob and taped it down. "Can everybody hear me?" I asked in a normal voice.

"Reading you," Tank said almost immediately. He handed me a light beige earpiece and I stuck it in my ear before fluffing out my hair to cover it.

"Babe? You're wearing a piece?" Ranger asked in surprise. "It's hard to concentrate

with an earpiece if you aren't used to it."

I glared at him. "Ranger, I have voices in my head all the damn time. These are just the voices of my friends." Lester smothered a laugh and I'm pretty sure I could hear Bobby and Woody chuckling from inside the club as they listened in.

"She's been practicing with it," Tank told him. "She'll be good." I grinned my thanks at him. Tank had my back.

Ranger narrowed his eyes slightly at me. Things had changed a lot in less than two months. "Get in position," he ordered the guys, his eyes fixed on me.

I turned to walk towards the door and Ranger caught up to me in two steps. He took my arm. "What else have you been practicing, Babe?" he asked.

"This really isn't the time or place."

He stared at me for a moment before nodding reluctantly. "Stay on your toes, guys," I said into my wire. "My Spidey senses are tingling a little."

I got a chorus of "will do" and "roger" from the guys.

"What's going on, Babe?" Ranger asked me.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Just a vague feeling."

"Your instincts are usually right," he said. "Do you want to call it off?"

"No. Just stick close."

"I'll stay as close as you like," he said as he stepped a little closer.

"Not that close," I said as I stepped back. I could hear laughter in my ear.

I took a deep breath and flipped my internal sex kitten switch. Then I strolled towards the door, lots of swing in my hips. I heard a couple of groans in my ear. Guess it was working.

"Work it, girl," Lester said in my earpiece and I had to stifle a giggle. "I hate to see you leave, but I love to see you walk away!"

The bouncer was Hal, so he just nodded and let me skip the line at the doors. When someone complained, Hal simply crossed his arms over his massive chest. The complaints stopped. Gee, imagine that.

I walked in and started scanning the crowd. I spotted Bobby, Woody and Ram after a few casual glances. They were all big, tall and hot, so they weren't hard to spot. Just had to figure out where all the girls were looking and there they were. Bobby and Ram were at a table together and Woody was already on the dance floor.

"At the end of the bar, Bomber," Bobby said as he pretended to say something to Ram. "He's watching you."

I scanned the crowd again, pretending to look for someone. When I let my gaze play over the bar, I saw the skip. He was indeed staring at me and it was creepy. He wasn't a bad looking guy but he had on enough gold chains to sink the Titanic and his shirt was unbuttoned well past the limits of good taste. Ick.

I sashayed to the opposite end of the bar and ordered a plain orange juice. With my Spidey senses tingling, I didn't want to risk even a rum and Coke screwing with my concentration.

I slowly meandered towards the skip. I walked in front of him, putting a lot of oomph into my stride. He glanced towards me with interest but then turned his attention back to the dancers on the dance floor. I was dismayed to have lost his attention so quickly, but I felt confident that I could earn it back. If he liked feisty, I could do feisty.

I made a show of tossing back the rest of my juice before stalking determinedly across the dance floor. Woody was dancing with a hot blonde but I cut in as bold as you please. "This is my dance," I told the confused blonde as I pushed her out of the way.

"Well hell, darlin'," Woody said with a grin as he pulled me close. "I never knew you felt that way. All you have to do is ask and you shall receive."

I rolled my eyes at him and did a sensuous hip roll to the music and pulled Woody's hands from my waist down to my hips as I tried to get into the music.

"Hot damn," Bobby said. "You definitely got his attention." There was a brief pause. "Got mine, too," he muttered softly. I heard some of the guys groan and Ranger growl.

I turned back so I was facing away from the skip. "Guys, can you get the DJ to play something Latin?" I asked. "If he thinks he's the hottest Latin dancer ever, Bobby and I can give him a little something to think about."

"Roger, Bomber," Bobby said. "Ram's on it."

I turned around again so I was facing the skip. My back was to Woody's front, so I stepped back a little closer and put my hands over his on my hips and shook my moneymaker for all it was worth.

"He watching?" I murmured to Woody.

"Every man in here is watching you," Woody whispered sexily in my ear. "And praying for me to drop dead so they can dance with you."

I grinned at Woody as I could hear Lester demanding details from Bobby or Ram in my earpiece. "Damn it, next time I'm on the inside!" he complained.

I heard a loud growl and I was pretty sure it was Ranger. "Santos," he barked. Yep, it was Ranger.

I danced with Woody until the song ended. I could hear Ram bribing the DJ to play a sizzling Latin dance song by Shakira next. Only cost $20 bucks, pretty good deal.

As soon as the first strains of the song played, I stepped away from Woody and pretended to gaze around the room, obviously looking for my next dance partner. The skip looked interested but I didn't think he was quite interested enough yet. I suspected that would change in a few minutes.

I stared at the skip for a long few seconds and I could see his grin start to grow. "Bobby," I said without moving my lips.

Bobby stepped in front of me and offered me his hand. I took it and we slid into a sexy salsa. I'd practiced to this song with Bobby before, so we had the rhythm pretty good already. As I spun out into a twirl, I saw the skip watching us with mild interest.

"Kick it up a notch," I told Bobby.

"Yes, ma'am," he said with a smile as he dipped me low to the ground. Our dance became more overtly sexy as the hip movements became more exaggerated. When I hazarded a glance at the skip again, he was definitely paying close attention.

"Gotcha," I murmured to myself as I continued to dance with Bobby.

The song ended and I smiled at Bobby as I turned to walk away. The skip was in front of me in an instant. "Wanna dance?" he asked.

"Sure, honey," I said as I accepted his hand. I repressed a shudder.

"What's your name, sexy mama?" he asked.

"I'm Gina," I said with a flirtatious smile. "And what's your name, stud?" I managed the line without choking but it was hard.

"Jorge," he said as he tried to dip me. But he wasn't nearly as strong as Bobby, so I had to grab hold of his arm to keep from falling on my ass. I tried to turn my grab for safety into a caress as I slid my nails across his forearm as I stood back up.

His breath hitched and his eyes darkened a little. Eww, gross, but it was the job.

Then a big drunken lout the size of Jabba the Hutt jerked me away from the skip. "My turn," he slurred as he tried to grab my ass.

Oh shit. I heard Bobby explaining the situation as he, Woody and Ram headed my way.

I peeled Jabba's hands off my ass with a grimace. "Not interested, sorry," I tried. He frowned at me and grabbed my ass again.

I could see out of my peripheral vision that the skip was edging away. We'll see about that.

I was really tired of Jabba's ham-sized hands on my ass so I went with the age old girl maneuver and kneed him in the balls. He turned green, clutched himself and fell to the floor with a reverberating thud.

I could see the news report now: Major earthquake in New Jersey tonight, scientists puzzled. Details at eleven.

"Oh fuck!" Woody exclaimed in my earpiece. "She just kicked the big boy in the balls!" I heard someone suck in a breath. Men. Mortal enemies would probably commiserate over seeing a guy kneed in the 'nads. We could have peace in the Middle East if only we could get the male leaders of the enemy countries together in one room to watch me knock some asshole's balls into next Tuesday. 

I turned back to the skip, who was watching in horrified silence. Well, they said he liked feisty, so let's find out.

I sashayed back towards him and he tore his eyes from the fallen giant. "I don't like to be grabbed," I said with what I hoped was a sexy smile. "Unless I ask first."

That got his attention completely back on me. "Want to head out before Jabba the Hutt wakes up, stud muffin?" I asked as I ran one hand over his shoulder.

He just nodded so I took his hand and pulled him towards the door, make sure to keep my hips swaying enough to keep him distracted.

"On their way to the back door," Bobby said over the earpiece. "Thirty seconds."

As I got to the door, I turned back towards the skip and grabbed both hands with a grin. He couldn't pull a gun or anything on my guys if he couldn't move his hands. He grinned back at me and squeezed my hands. Bobby stepped up directly behind the skip as I used my hip to open the door for us to exit.

I saw the men in black standing flat against the wall on either side of the door. As soon as the skip was out the door, I dropped his hands and saw Bobby tag him on the back of the neck with this stun gun. The skip dropped like a rock and I let Tank and Cal drag him the rest of the way out into the parking lot before cuffing him.

Ranger was standing there pissed as hell. The menace radiated off of him. "Relax, Ranger. Jabba the Hutt is probably still trying not to puke, and I used it to my advantage to get the skip out faster."

He just turned his obsidian gaze to me and I could see the anger in his eyes. I stepped closer and put one hand on his arm. "It's fine. I'm fine."

He took a deep breath and I could see him force the tension away. I wish I had that talent but I didn't think I wanted to see and do the things that Ranger had seen and done to learn how to do that.

He pulled me into his arms and pressed a kiss to my head. As soon as his arms loosened, I stepped back and away from the danger Ranger represented. Ranger was infinitely more dangerous than Jabba back there.

"You guys got him?" I asked as I turned back to the men in black.

"Yeah, Angel," Cal said as they loaded him into the back of one of the SUVs. "Good job."

Lester came over and kissed my cheek. "Heard you were pretty damn hot in there, Beautiful," he said. "Wish I could have seen it!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "You're such a pervert."

He just grinned, not bothering to deny it. "I can't believe how far you've come with dancing since that first salsa lesson," he said as he shook his head. "According to Woody and Ram, you were hot!"

"_You_ taught her to salsa?" Ranger asked in a shocked tone.

"Yeah," Lester said as he looked in askance at Ranger's tone. "So?"

I flashed back to salsa dancing with Ranger the morning after my date with Lester. Oh shit. Oh my freaking giant dinosaur shit!

Ranger shifted his disbelieving gaze from Lester to me. "Babe?"

I grabbed Ranger's arm and dragged him far away before he could start World War III with his cousin.

"Santos?" Ranger practically growled. "Santos taught you to salsa?"

"Angel, wire's still on," Cal warned in my earpiece. Oh hell! Cal was a good partner.

"Thanks, Cal," I said as I reached into my dress and retrieved the wire. Cal materialized at my side, took the wire and then vanished again. For such a big dude, he was remarkably wraith-like.

Ranger's blank face was on now. I'm not sure which was worse, pissed off Ranger or completely blank Ranger.

The silence lengthened. I gnawed on my tongue to keep from babbling incoherently.

Finally, believe it or not, Ranger broke the silence. "My cousin, Babe?" he asked softly.

I sighed. "Ranger, it was two months ago. We hung out a few times before deciding we were too good of friends to risk screwing it up."

"But you were dating Santos?"

I wiggled uncomfortably. "Sorta."

His face became icy. "How could you?"

Oh fuck no, he was not going to blame this on me. "He asked. I said yes. It wasn't all that difficult," I said as my smartass reply.

If anything, he looked even angrier.

"No, Ranger, you don't get to be mad at me or Lester. You made it clear that there could be nothing between us. So don't you get pissy at me that I believed you!"

He glared at me before turning and stomping a few feet away. "Hell, Stephanie," he said. "You really know how to hit a man where it hurts!"

"As Jabba the Hutt can attest."

He shot me an irritated glare. He didn't like my levity.

"I didn't do it to hurt you. I did it because Lester is a nice guy and I like him. And honestly, my ego needed a little boost after you and Joe."

"Do not compare me to Morelli!"

"Why the hell not? He wanted my body but not the real me. You wanted my body but nothing else."

"How the fuck can you say that?" he almost yelled. Uh oh, Batman was losing control.

"Because that's exactly what you told me!" I replied in just as pissy of a tone. "I love you in my own way. This kind of love doesn't come with a ring, just a condom. My life doesn't lend itself to relationships. We can only ever be friends with benefits. Any of that ringing a bell?"

"Babe."

I rolled my eyes. "Ranger."

He stepped closer and I could feel the anger and hurt radiating off of him. "Every time you needed me, I was there. If you needed a car, help with a skip or protection from a stalker, I did it. I was there."

"And every time you needed me, I was there. If you needed me to get kidnapped to save your daughter, to tail a mob boss or to lure out dangerous skips, I did it. I was there, too," I retorted.

I paused for a second to let that sink in. "I couldn't give you cars or assign you bodyguards. But I gave you everything I had. But you didn't want what I had to give. So you don't get to be mad that I'm trying to find someone who does."

Now he looked stricken. "Babe," he said as he reached out to me.

I quickly stepped back. "No."

"Babe, please," he said, actually begging.

"You had your chance. You had three fucking years of chances and you pushed me away at every single turn. We sleep together because of an idiotic deal and you tell me to fix things with Joe as you pull up your pants and run away. What the hell am I supposed to do? I tried my best to be a good friend to you, Ranger. I didn't have the bling or the fancy cars, but I gave you everything I had to give. But you're the one who insisted over and over again that we couldn't be more than friends, so fuck you for being mad that I believed it!"

I turned to stalk away and blinked when I saw Cal, Tank, Bobby and Lester leaning against the SUV, their arms crossed over their chests. They all had blank faces on but I could see the tension in their body language.

I had a sinking feeling that this wasn't going to end well.

I'd gone about a half dozen steps before I felt Ranger's hands on my arm. "Babe," he growled. "We're not done."

"The hell we aren't. We're completely done," I snapped as I yanked my arm out of his grasp. I got another step before I was lifted off my feet completely.

"Put me down!" I shrieked.

The guys started towards us at a run, murder on their faces. I hope to hell that wasn't for me.

Ranger was quiet as he carried me away. Hell no.

I started wiggling like an eel, kicking and punching like my very existence depended on it. My life might not be at risk but my heart was in mortal danger.

Ranger stumbled slightly under my onslaught. He didn't want me to get hurt so I capitalized on that to launch myself out of his arms. I only made it another step before he hauled me up and tossed me over his shoulder.

I'd practiced this with the guys. I immediately drove my elbow into his sciatic nerve, just above his delectable buns, causing his leg to tremble and nearly collapse. He went down to one knee, but kept his arms wrapped around my furiously flailing legs.

I could have cheerfully killed him right then. Good thing I wasn't armed.

I was yanked out of Ranger's arms by a highly pissed Cal. He sat me down and I sucked in a deep breath as I stepped between Ranger and seriously angry Tank, Lester and Bobby.

"Thanks for the rescue, guys. But please, give me a minute."

Tank stared at me for a second. "You sure?"

"Yeah. But please don't leave me."

"We won't. You sure you want to talk to him again?" Cal asked, anger still rolling off him in waves.

"Yeah. But if he tries to carry me off again, you can shoot him!"

"Will do," Lester said with promise in his voice and a violent glare at Ranger as he and the guys reluctantly backed up a dozen feet. If we spoke softly, they wouldn't hear us. But they could be there in two seconds if I needed them.

"What the fuck was that?" I said furiously as I turned on the blank faced Ranger. "What the hell were you thinking to manhandle me like that?"

"You weren't listening to me."

"No, I listened to you for years. I just choose not to listen to your bullshit about me going out with someone else. What I do, hell, _who_ I do, is none of your business!"

His blank faced cracked for a minute and I saw his pain. "Babe," he said quietly. "I told you things are different now."

I glared at him. "No, it's not. You're just pissed that I'm dating other guys. Well, tough shit. We can try to go back to being just friends or at least be polite coworkers but you do not get to be pissed that I'm dating other men, regardless of who they are. You do not have that right."

"Why don't you believe that I love you?" he asked quietly. "That I want a life with you?"

"Because you hurt me one too many times," I said just as quietly. "And I refuse to get hurt again."

"I'd never hurt you, Stephanie."

"You just did. Dragging me off like, using your size and strength against me, that hurt."

His blank faced slammed down. I waited him out, albeit not very patiently, and eventually saw the regret shimmering in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

I nodded. I knew he was but it didn't change anything. "I need distance from you for a while," I said. "So if you need to go in the wind or check on the other offices, now might be a good time."

"We can work this out, Babe," Ranger said as he stepped so close I could feel his body heat.

I shook my head and then cursed internally as one tear slid down my face. He raised his hand and gently wiped it away. "I love you, Babe. Don't shut me out. Please. Just talk to me, let me fix this. Don't walk away."

I choked on a mix between a sob and a laugh. He looked surprised. "Now you know how I felt."

I saw Ranger swallow hard and I'd have sworn his eyes gleamed suspiciously. "I'm sorry."

I stepped back and he let his hand fall. "Just… I need time and space. Give me that and maybe we can be friends. Push me and I'm done for good."

"I'll give you anything you need. I always have," he whispered quietly.

"Then give me space," I said as I turned and walked away.

Cal swept me into a hug as soon as I was in arm reach. And given that Cal is the size of a cruise ship, arm reach for him was approximately eighty-seven feet.

"Shh, Angel," he whispered. "I've got you now."

That did it. I burst into loud, racking sobs and threw my arms around Cal's neck as I soaked his shirt. I hope Kevlar can handle salt water.

Bobby leaned close and rubbed the few inches of my back not covered by Cal's large hands as I shuddered and shook.

"Are you okay?" Cal asked as I finally managed to turn off the faucet. I nodded without moving my face out of Cal's warm neck.

"What did he do?" Bobby asked.

I shrugged. "He was Ranger."

I sucked in a deep breath and tried to get myself under control. It took a minute and enough deep breathing that I should be qualified as a yoga master, but I eventually managed. "Let's head back, I need to shower and change before we finish our shift."

"Cal will take you home, little girl," Tank said as he glared at Ranger. "You done good, but you're done for tonight."

"No, I'm scheduled to work tonight."

"I'll cover your shift," Lester offered. Bobby nodded vigorously.

"Thanks, Les," I said. "But I need to do it."

Lester stared at me for a minute. "Fine. But call and we're there in a heartbeat if it's too much."

I nodded.

"Take her home to get cleaned up and changed," Tank ordered Cal. "We'll meet you back at Haywood."

Cal led me away. "Be nice," I told a still pissed Tank, Lester and Bobby. I noticed that none of them made any promises.

"And Les? He's mad at you because he just figured out you know what. Be careful," I warned.

Lester's eyes gleamed with humor under the dim street lights. "Good, about damn time. And I'll be careful, Beautiful, don't worry about me. I can take care of myself."

Cal drug me away but I could hear Bobby bugging Lester to figure out what I had meant. Tank was looking from Lester to me with an unreadable look on his face. I think he just figured it out too.

_**Author's note: **__Thanks for the wonderful reviews! They all showed up at once, which was a surprise, but I guess FF had some issues. Hopefully it's fixed now so everyone will get this new chapter alert._

_Thanks also for the well wishes for the health stuff. So far, so good with the new med. Fingers crossed!_

_Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think, please!_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Cal drove me home, stopping to go through the McDonald's drive thru. Boy, did he know me or what. He ordered enough food for an army, which would possibly be enough to feed both me and Cal.

I was munching on fries while we took the elevator to my apartment. Cal went in and cleared it before letting me in.

We ate without talking. I wasn't feeling all that hungry, so I pushed the rest of my fries and my apple pie towards Cal.

First he looked shocked. Then he looked worried. "You okay?"

I just shrugged. "Not as hungry as I thought."

He kept his eyes on mine. "Are you dying?"

I choked as I tried to laugh and eat one last fry at the same time. I am not coordinated to do both, apparently. He smiled as I sucked down some Coke to clear my throat. "Almost, thanks to you!"

He grinned at me and pushed me towards the bedroom. "You'll feel better once you've showered and changed," he said. He was right.

I reemerged wrapped in my bathrobe thirty minutes later. I'd scrubbed off my smeared mascara and had washed the gel out of my hair. If only it would be as easy to wash Ranger out of my heart.

I gaped when I looked at my apartment. It was way cleaner than it had been when I'd walked into the bathroom. Hell, cleaner than it had been in longer than I wanted to think about. "What did you do?" I asked in wonder as I took in the sparkling countertops and precisely placed throw blanket and pillows on my couch. Even Rex had a clean cage.

Cal looked slightly embarrassed. "I needed something to do. So I cleaned."

"Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean," I sang and Cal blushed even more. With his gigantic build and shaved head, he did bear a resemblance to the badass cartoon cleaning products spokesman.

"Will you move in with me?" I asked with a slight smile.

Cal grinned. "This place isn't big enough for you and Rex, let alone adding a big guy like me."

"So we'll get a bigger place. Any man who can clean that much that quick is my hero."

He chuckled and then swatted my butt. "Go get dressed, we have to get back to work."

I giggled and scooted away. "Just consider it. We'd be like the odd couple."

"Angel, that was two guys."

"But everyone knows that we're both odd."

He laughed. "Got me there."

I smiled and took off for my bedroom to change into my second uniform of the night. He'd even changed the sheets on my bed! I love Cal.

I was getting more and more anxious the closer we got to Haywood. And Cal was getting more and more anxious as I was getting more anxious.

I just really hoped that Ranger would take me at my word and give me some space. Because I wasn't sure where I'd jump him or shoot him if he told me he loved me again, and I needed to get my feelings under control before I saw him again.

I jumped when the door opened and Cal offered me a hand to help me out. I hadn't even noticed him pulling into the garage or parking. Way to be aware of your surroundings.

"You up for this?" Cal asked.

I just nodded and took a deep breath as the elevator doors opened. We rode up the fifth floor in silence.

"You still armed?" I asked Cal quietly.

He shot me a startled look and his hand automatically went to his hip. "Yeah. Why?"

"If Ranger tries to talk to me tonight, I'll need to borrow your gun so I can shoot him."

Cal smiled at me. "If he bothers you, _I'll_ shoot him."

"Have I told you that I love you?"

He ruffled my curls. "There's a reason why I'm your favorite, right?"

"Yep."

Thankfully, Ranger was nowhere to be seen. But Lester and Bobby were waiting by the elevator when I got off.

"Beautiful, you okay?" Lester asked the second I stepped out.

"I'm fine. Are you okay?" I asked in concern as I took in his black eye and bruised cheek.

Lester just grinned. "You should see the other guy."

I looked at Bobby. He was also sporting a bruised jaw but he looked happy. "I'll pass," I replied, making both Bobby and Lester grin wider.

"Just please tell me he's not dead," I said after a moment. "Or in the ICU."

"He's upstairs," Bobby said. "And he's fine. He'll just be moving a bit slower and will remember to not be so rough with a lady the next time."

Lester smirked. "Don't piss off the medic, he knows how to get you where it'll really hurt but won't kill you." Bobby preened slightly but nodded with a grin. "You'll just wish you were dead," Lester added.

"Are you sure you two are okay?" I asked.

Bobby pulled me into a hug. "We're fine, I promise. We're all a little bruised up but none of us, including him, are really hurt. We've all been hurt worse sparring."

I gently kissed the bruise on Bobby's jaw. "Thanks."

Bobby's jaw hardened. "Our pleasure. Really."

I turned to Lester and kissed his bruised cheek. "And thank you."

"You're welcome, Beautiful."

Cal and I finished the paperwork allotted to our shift. There was one alarm around four am, and everyone rushed to pull on assault gear until we heard back a minute later that it was the teenaged daughter trying to sneak out. Uh oh, someone's in trouble, and it wasn't me for once.

Other than that bit of excitement, everything was calm. I finished the search requests and reviewed the payroll report for the week. I sent the payroll to Tank for approval as I was yawning fiercely at almost eight in the morning.

Cal was sending me amusing emails to keep me awake. It had been a long and emotional night, and night shifts were always hard for me. But I'd demanded to be treated like any other employee and the other guys worked night shifts and weekends sometimes, so I did too. And I was determined to finish my shift despite everything that happened.

Binkie and Zero showed up at five minutes until eight to take over for us. "Oh, thank you, God," I murmured as Cal brought them up to date on the night and what was still left to be done.

I was halfway to the elevator before the tingle on my neck registered. I did my best to ignore it as I waved a tired goodbye to the changing shift of guys on the monitors. Cal slid into the elevator and stood in front of me, his arms crossed over his chest as he blocked me from seeing Ranger.

"Come on," Cal said as we hit the garage. "I'll buy you breakfast and then take you home."

"You bought the midnight snack. I'll buy you breakfast and then I can drive myself home."

"You can buy breakfast and then I'll take you home," he bargained.

I stared at him for a minute before nodding. "Lead on, hungry one," I said with a grin. He grinned back at me and we climbed into his pickup truck the size of Indiana.

After eating at a local breakfast buffet, I was about to explode and simultaneously fall asleep. I was running on fumes, and Cal knew it. He just chuckled as he guided me to his truck. He had to give me a boost up since I was too tired to go mountain climbing to haul my ass into his giant truck.

Cal walked me up to my apartment and I collapsed on the couch with a sigh. "So what are you doing today?" I asked him.

He blushed slightly and shot me a nervous look. I sat up straight, tiredness forgotten. "Spill it," I demanded.

"I have a date," he admitted.

I clapped. "Yay! Tell me everything about her!"

He complied with a grin. Her name was Amanda and she was a nurse at Trenton Memorial. Cal had met her when he'd dropped off a skip who'd gotten too rambunctious with him and Manny one a couple of weeks ago. He's stopped by a couple of times to see her before finally getting up the nerve to ask her on a date.

"And when do I get to meet her?"

He blushed a little again. I loved it! "It's just the one date so far," he said but I could tell by the grin on his face that he was hoping for more than one date.

We spent the next ten minutes discussing his plans for the date. He was taking her to a nice dinner and then dancing. I knew Cal was a great dancer and I hoped Amanda was impressed. If she wasn't, she'd have to deal with me and that might not be a very good thing for her.

I was yawning widely and Cal gave me a quick kiss on the forehead before pushing me gently towards my bedroom. I made him promise to call me the next day with details before I'd let him leave. He agreed to give me a few details and I had to be satisfied with that.

I changed into an old Journey t-shirt that was pretty much threadbare at this point. But that just made it so soft and cozy. I was in bed by 9 am, and fast asleep by 9:01 am.

The scent of Bulgari woke me up around 2 pm. I came out of my dream and would have sworn I felt Ranger next to me. But by the time I woke up enough to be coherent, there was no sign of Ranger. But the scent of Bulgari lingered.

I turned over to check the time and saw a letter propped up against my lamp. On it was written "Babe" in Ranger's tidy handwriting.

I stared at it for a few minutes before finally mustering the courage to open it.

_Babe,_

_Simply put, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being an ass last night and overreacting and I'm sorry for being a clueless ass for the last three years._

_I didn't realize how much my actions and words had hurt you. I love you, Babe, and I would never hurt you intentionally. So I can only apologize for the things that I've said and done that have hurt you and ask you to give me another chance to prove how much I love you and how committed I am to you. _

_I'm leaving Trenton for a little while to give you the time and space you need. I'll be at RangeMan Miami, but I can be back within a few hours if you need anything. You know how to reach me. I will always be there for you for anything you need._

_If you want me to stay, my plane doesn't leave until 8:35 tonight. One word and I'll cancel the trip. __Nothing__ is more important to me than you. That has always been true, but it's taken me this long to finally accept why. _

_Don't mistake my giving you the space you requested as me giving up. I don't give up easily. I'm not giving up on you. I'm not giving up on us. Now that I've had my eyes opened, I refuse to accept that we can't make this work. We belong together. I know that now. Let me show you._

_I love you, Babe._

_Love,_

_Carlos_

I jerked back when my tears dropped on the paper. I wiped my tears away with my blanket before carefully refolding the letter and sliding it back into the envelope.

I curled back up on my bed and cried into my pillow for what felt like forever. When I finally got myself under control, I took a shower and intentionally kept Ranger and his note out of my mind. It took a whole heck of a lot of shoving to keep those two momentous thoughts out of my brain, though.

Since Cal had already made a good start, I decided to finish cleaning my apartment. That kept my mind off things for a few hours while I scrubbed down my apartment. I strapped on my RangeMan stungun and Sig and even ventured down to the creepy laundry room in the basement rather than enduring a lecture from my mother if I tried to do laundry there. The creepy basement won, hands down, over my mom's lecture, so now all of my clothes and linens were now clean. I don't think my apartment had ever been cleaner than it was at this moment.

My heart desperately wanted to call Ranger and tell him to come over so we could talk. My brain insisted that Ranger's new emotions were the result of stress or trauma and that things would be different in a few weeks.

After the emotional rollercoaster of the last few days, I knew there was absolutely no way in hell my heart could survive if he changed his mind and sent me away again. I'd have to leave Trenton permanently; I wouldn't be able to handle the daily reminders of Ranger.

I was terrified of being hurt, so I sat and watched the clock tick relentlessly towards 8:35 pm. My fingers itched to call Ranger. I even hit the speed dial once but chickened out before pressing send. I finally had to go bury my phone under my mattress to keep it far enough out of reach so I wouldn't do the brokenhearted version of drunk dialing.

Once the clock struck 9 pm, I knew Ranger was in the air. I collapsed on the couch with a sob in my throat. I fought desperately to keep it in. I was tired of crying, I was tired of feeling weak.

I was focusing so hard on not crying that I didn't hear my door open or the footsteps until I was lifted up off the sofa.

"Babe," Ranger whispered roughly against my hair as he pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms around me.

I jumped and stared at him in shock. "But… but…" I stammered before I sucked in a deep breath. Get it together, girl.

"But you're gone!"

He pulled me close. "I couldn't leave," he said as he inhaled the smell of my hair. I knew what he was doing because I was inhaling the scent of him too. Mm, Bulgari.

I sucked in a couple more deep breaths, trying to find the center that Cal talked about in training. But I felt like my world was so off-kilter that I wouldn't know my center from a kielbasa.

I struggled to pull back and look at him. He had a black eye, a bruised jaw and a busted lip. Even with his war wounds from the "discussion" with the guys, he still looked sexy as hell. It just made him look more overtly dangerous, not that he looked all that tame before.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

He took a deep breath and looked me in the eyes. "I couldn't leave. I was at the airport, already through security, but I just couldn't get on the plane. I couldn't leave without talking to you."

I blinked at him. "I think we talked enough last night."

He pushed a curl back from my face and tucked it behind my ear. "I think we need to talk when emotions aren't so high. I was furious and hurt to find out you'd gone out with Santos and I lost control. But I want to try to talk when we're both a little more calm, to try to work this out."

I sighed and slid out of his lap. He looked sad but let me go without a struggle, thank God.

"Ranger," I started before stopping. I really didn't know what to say.

"Carlos, Babe," he said softly in the silence. "Please, call me Carlos."

I shot him a confused look and he explained. "I like hearing my name from you. Ranger is a street name, one I earned and use with pride. But to you, I want to be Carlos."

I blinked at him. "I'll try. But Ranger's pretty ingrained," I warned.

"Just try. It means a lot that you'd just try."

I nodded. "I'll try."

We sat in awkward silence for a few minutes until it finally got to me. "I don't think I can be calm with you yet," I told him.

"Why not?"

I cast him an irritated look. Was he stupid or something? I got a faint smile in return. Oh shit, did I say that out loud?

"You didn't say anything out loud, but judging from the look on your face, you were questioning my intellectual capabilities. Right?"

I just nodded and I got a full-on smile. "I'm apparently pretty damn stupid since it took me so long to see what was right in front of me. I admit that. But I wanted to know if you couldn't be calm because you were still mad at me or because you were still hurt."

Oh. "Both."

"What can I do?"

I shrugged. "Some things can't be fixed so easily."

"Will you try talking to me?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I can't right now. I don't know how I feel about things so I can't talk about them."

"Maybe talking about them will help you to figure out your emotions."

That could be, but I'm a Jersey girl and we don't work that way. "I have to do this on my own schedule."

He nodded reluctantly. "Then will you just listen to me?"

I sighed. "Ranger," I started before remembering his earlier request. "Er, Carlos," I said. I got a huge smile that temporarily short-circuited my brain. I had to blink to clear my mind.

"Carlos," I tried again, "it's just been too much. And I can't deal with it." I shivered from the chill in my apartment. Damn cheap owners wouldn't turn up the heat, so it was always chilly.

"Babe," he said as he scooted a little closer and wrapped the blanket around me. I tried not to wish it was his arms instead. "I know denial is your favorite way to deal with things. But denial won't work this time," he said.

It might. We could try it and see.

Ranger had a half smile on his face like he knew that I was thinking. Damn Batman ESP.

"I won't deny that there's a lot of crap to deal with. But I'm not to the point yet where I can think about you without my chest hurting, so it will have to wait a little longer," I told him.

His face fell at my comment and I had to clench my fist to keep from reaching out to him.

He stared at me for a long moment. "Do you want me to go, Babe?"

Go where? "To Haywood or to Miami?"

"Either."

I sighed again. I was doing a lot of it. I rubbed my head absently, noticing that my head was pounding and I felt shaky. Guess it was the adrenaline from seeing Ranger again.

Ranger caught my hand. "You okay?" he asked.

"What?" 

"Your hand is shaking and you're pale even for you. Are you feeling okay?" he asked.

I stopped to think about it for a minute. "Not really. Head's pounding and I feel sort of shaky."

"When was the last time you ate?"

I had to think about that. Oh holy crap, I'd been so worked up over things that I'd forgotten to eat! "Breakfast with Cal after our shift ended."

Ranger shot me a disbelieving look and got off the couch. He came back a minute later with a banana and a glass of water. I knew from the look on his face that there would be no discussion until I had eaten so I accepted the food. I peeled the banana and went to town, hoping it would help with the headache.

"I've noticed that you sometimes seem to have a problem with low blood sugar if you don't eat for a while," Ranger finally said once I finished my banana and water. "Bobby should run some tests and make sure you're not hypoglycemic."

"Is this a new way of telling me my diet will kill me?"

That got a smile. "Babe."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Ranger."

He laughed softly at my predictable retort. "No. It probably will, but I'm smart enough to know that keeping you away from sugar is one battle I just can't win. No, I just want to make sure you're not going to pass out if you get busy and don't or can't eat for a while."

I nodded. "I'll talk to Bobby."

"Can I take you out to dinner? Or can we go pick something up together?" he asked tentatively. This was a big departure from the normally very self-assured and confident Ranger. I kind of liked knowing I could knock him off balance too. God knows he does it to me all the time.

"Well, I am hungry. Maybe Chinese food delivery? That way you can get your weird sprouty vegetable stuff and I can still get real food," I offered after a moment's hesitation.

Ranger smiled. Crap, his smile was still dangerous even with a busted lip. "See? We're already working on compromises."

I rolled my eyes. "I figured the odds of getting you to eat a pizza were slim to none."

"You know me so well."

I snorted. As if!

I stood up and then swayed for a second. Ranger leapt up and wrapped his arms around me. "You okay?"

I shook my head to clear it. "Fine." I pulled out of his arms and walked over to the drawer with my many take out menus. It only took a minute to find the one for the Chinese food delivery place.

I sat back down on the couch as far away as I could get from Ranger. Despite everything that had happened, he was still the most incredibly sexy man in the world to me (and many other women), so being that close did dangerous things to my hormones. And I was for damn sure not going to confuse things any farther with him by accidentally jumping his bones.

Ranger scooted closer so he could look at the menu with me, completely eliminating the carefully orchestrated distance between us. Damn.

I knew what I wanted, I always got the same sesame chicken combination plate but I figured Ranger would have to pick out his sprouted stuff, so I just handed over the menu and jumped back up off the couch. I retrieved the cordless phone and leaned against the bar while waiting for Ranger to decide. I tapped on Rex's cage and had a brief, one-sided conversation with my furry son while Ranger deliberated.

Ranger picked some kind of sauceless stir-fried vegetables and tofu thing that sounded pretty much awful, but he was the one eating it, not me. Vegetables aren't bad per se, but they're much better with a nice sesame sauce over them. Ranger may be hot, but his eating habits left a lot to be desired, at least for me.

I called in the order and only had to repeat myself twice to be heard over the din of the kitchen. The clerk promised us food in less than thirty minutes, so I scrambled to come up with something that we could do during the wait. Shit, nothing was coming to mind that wouldn't complicate things even more.

I stared nervously at Ranger.

"Are you still nervous around me, Babe?" he asked. Stupid ESP. He already knew I was.

I just nodded my head. I was too tired to try to hide it tonight.

"Why?"

I shot him another 'are you stupid?' look and his lips twitched slightly. "Do you think I'm going to hurt you?" he asked after a moment.

"I'd say there's a strong possibility," I retorted without thinking it through.

Ranger's blank face immediately slammed down. Whoopsie, guess I hurt his feelings.

I turned to look out the dark window. I couldn't see anything except my living room reflected by the glass but it was better than seeing Ranger hurt. Pretty much anything was better than seeing him hurt.

"Babe," he murmured after a few minutes. "I swear, I will never hurt you again."

I sighed. Seemed like we were going to have to talk a little regardless of what I wanted.

"I know you wouldn't mean to. But I really think that all this is the trauma from your last mission, and that you'll be back to normal in a couple of weeks. It would hurt to be pushed away again and I know it would hurt you to hurt me. So please, pretty please, can't we just pretend none of this ever happened and go back to being friends?" I was pretty much begging by the end of my little speech.

Ranger just watched me steadily for what felt like three lifetimes before he finally spoke. "Babe, it's not stress or a trauma reaction. I can promise you that. It's just finally understanding what you mean to me, why I've been so protective of you since the beginning. I'm a patient man, I can wait for you to accept that things are different. But I can't pretend that things haven't changed for me. That's something I don't know how to do."

I rubbed my pounding head. Either the banana had worn off already or my blood pressure was dangerously high from everything with Ranger.

Ranger stood with slightly less than his usual fluid grace and glided over to where I stood next to the kitchen island. He slid behind me and his fingers dug into the tight muscles in my neck and shoulders. Nothing in this world could have kept me from moaning in pure relief as the tension was slowly soothed away by Ranger's clever fingers.

When he moved to massaging my scalp, I'm pretty sure I started drooling on myself. See, this was the way to get Ranger to give up and go away, let him see me drooling all over myself like a toothless baby. That should eliminate any sexual tension right away.

My head tipped forward as all the bones in my neck suddenly melted. Doctors would have loved to see an x-ray of that moment.

The next thing I know, I'm leaning back against Ranger's chest and his arms are tight around my waist. I straightened awkwardly and tried to slip away. His arms tightened for a moment before they finally loosened enough for me to step away and turn back towards him.

"Thanks," I murmured, looking anywhere but at Ranger.

"You're welcome," he replied softly. His fingers gripped my chin and forced me to look at him. He must have forgotten what he wanted to tell me because we just stared at each other for the longest time. I really think we would have stayed like that until the end of time, or at least until I had to pee, before a knock on the door captured our attention.

Guess the food was here.

Ranger wasn't taking any chances and pulled a gun from his waistband before checking my peephole. I guess he was satisfied that it was just food and not a ninja assassin since he shoved the gun back in his pants and opened the door.

"You called for delivery?" a bored teenage boy asked as the door opened. Ranger merely nodded and I saw the boy pale and swallow. Yeah, he has that affect on people.

I snagged my purse and pushed the door open so the kid could come in. "Yeah. How much is it?" I asked as I fished my wallet out of the big bag.

"Babe, I'll get it," Ranger said as he reached for his back pocket. I shot him a glare that stopped him in his tracks and turned back to the delivery boy with raised eyebrows.

I handed over enough money to cover the food and plus a generous tip and then carried the bag of food over to my freshly cleaned dining room table. Since it wasn't piled with crap or sporting suspicious stains, we could actually eat at the table. Plus I figured having the three feet of wood between me and Ranger would probably be a good thing.

"Water or Coke?" I asked.

"Water is fine," he replied, surprising exactly no one with his plain beverage choice.

I poured two glasses of water from the Brita pitcher I'd found buried in the back of my closet earlier today, a long ago gift from my mom that I'd finally put to use, and headed towards the table. The great thing about this delivery place was that they included everything from the packets of soy sauce to a giant stack of napkins, so I didn't even need to dirty any of my freshly washed plates or cutlery. Score.

We ate mostly in silence, with only my occasional moans over the succulent sesame chicken breaking the monotony of chewing sounds.

I opened the box of Chinese donuts with an eager smile. I offered one to Ranger before remembering who I was with, so I wasn't shocked when he simply raised one eyebrow and shook his head.

"One of these days," I mused aloud, "I will get you to eat dessert."

"I've already had my dessert allotment for the month," he replied.

My jaw dropped open. "When did you eat dessert?" I asked in shock.

"I had a bite of your chocolate cake the night I got back, Babe," he reminded me. He was smiling now, amused at my shock.

I rolled my eyes. "That was one tiny bite. That doesn't count!" I insisted.

He grinned at me. "It does in my book."

"Your book is boring."

Ranger grinned wider. "See how well we work together? I'll eat your vegetables and you can eat my dessert."

Hmm, that actually was a point in his favor. I always had to fight Joe to get my half of dessert.

Ranger chuckled at the look on my face and leaned forward to brush some of the powdered sugar off my lips. Great, I probably looked like a clumsy drug user with white powder covering my face.

I finished my donuts while Ranger efficiently cleaned the remains of dinner off the table, even coming back with a wet paper towel to wipe up the splatters of sesame sauce on my side of the table. Ranger's side was, of course, immaculate.

He hovered over me while I finished the last deep fried ball of happiness rolled in a winter wonderland of sugar before whisking the paper box away and wiping up the traces of sugar. I leaned back against my chair and patted my very full tummy. I would definitely need to find one of the guys to work out tomorrow.

My belly was now full and the long-ass day suddenly struck me. I started yawning widely, my jaw cracking and my eyes filling with tears. When I could finally pry my eyes open again, Ranger was grinning at me.

"Tired?"

"No, I'm so full of energy I could run a marathon," I replied sarcastically after I yawned again.

"I'm not sure I can manage all 26 miles with the bruised ribs your Merry Men gave me," Ranger said, "but I'll bet I can still keep up with you."

My eyes widened at that. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

Ranger smiled softly at my concern. "I'm fine. I deserved to get my ass kicked for treating you like that."

"Maybe I wanted to kick it myself."

That made Ranger laugh. "You did a pretty damn good job on my leg, Babe," he said with a smile. "It twitched all night."

I frowned. "I'm sorry. I just wanted down!"

He reached over to brush his fingers against my lips, wiping away my frown. And doubling my heart rate. "You did a good job. The guys have trained you well. Hell, you brought me to my knees and you weren't even naked!"

I had to laugh at his attempt at a joke. He knew that humor was my usual defense mechanism and he was trying to help me. I appreciated it.

"Three in one night," I replied in the same lighthearted vein. "Not a bad record."

"Three?" Ranger asked.

"You, the skip and Jabba the Hutt."

Ranger smiled the full 200-watt smile. "I always knew you were a dangerous woman."

I grinned. "Damn skippy."

That got a laugh. It felt nice to be just hanging out with Ranger, but "the talk" was looming over me like thunderclouds. So far, my efforts at denial seemed to be working quite well, thank you very much.

Ranger continued to smile at me for a while until he finally sighed. "Can I stay with you tonight?" he asked softly.

My heart seized in my chest.

"I'll be a gentleman, I promise," he said at the look of panic on my face. "I'll leave tomorrow if you want me to, but please let me stay tonight."

I looked away nervously.

After a minute of silence, Ranger spoke again, causing me to jump. "If you don't want me to, I won't."

"I… I just don't know," I finally said. "I'm glad that we can joke around and everything, but honestly, you've got me confused as hell and I don't know how to deal with it."

He stepped close and wrapped me in his arms. Suddenly, the world didn't seem quite so dangerous and scary.

"Let's deal with it together," he said into my ear as I suppressed a shudder. "I know I've fucked up a lot with you, and I'm sorry. Let me try to fix it, try to prove myself to you."

I stood there for a moment, absorbing some heat and strength from him. He had a lot to spare, he wouldn't miss a little bit, right?

I had a long internal debate, long enough that I was starting to feel like I had a split personality. My heart was all but doing backflips to get me to say yes. My brain was adamant it was a bad idea. My hormones were firmly with my heart.

In the end, in a surprise move, my head won. I pushed on Ranger's chest gently and he very reluctantly let me go. "I don't think that would be a good idea," I finally said, intentionally not looking at his face as I moved back two steps. "That would just confuse things more than they already are."

"I'm not the slightest bit confused."

That caused me to glare at him. "Good for you. But I am!"

His lips twitched ever so slightly. "How can I clarify your confusion?" he asked.

I shrugged. "You can't. But you have to understand, Rang, um, Carlos. I'm trying to balance three years of being pushed away with less than one week of this new thing. It's not easy and I'm not convinced that it won't be different yet again in another week."

"It won't change. I won't change."

"You already changed," I challenged. "You changed the rules on me halfway through the game."

"You changed the rules first!" he said as he shoved a hand through his hair. Huh, wonder if he realizes how much he sounds like a petulant five year old. I probably shouldn't point that out. If I want to stay in a first-world country, that is.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"When you left Morelli for good. You two had broken up and made up more times than I could count. But all of a sudden you're done with him, dating other guys. I wasn't prepared for that," he admitted.

"So this is because I'm dating other guys?" I said triumphantly. "I knew it!" Not going to think about why I felt like I was having a heart attack at the idea.

"No, it's because I always knew deep down that you'd never make it with the cop," Ranger said. "You two weren't good together and God only knows why you kept getting back with him. I guess I figured you'd still be dancing around with him when I finally did get my shit together and was ready for a real relationship and a real future with you. But now you're moving on from me too and I just can't let that happen!"

He sounded almost desperate at the end. As flattering as it was, and boy, was it flattering, I couldn't help but feel it was more the chase than anything else.

I crossed my arms over my chest in an unconscious effort to protect my heart. "A little cocky, don't you think?" I asked, mostly rhetorically.

Ranger just nodded seriously. "Yes. It was. It wasn't a conscious decision on my part. I was feeding myself the same load of bullshit about my life not working with relationships. I really thought it was true, and it was at the time I met you. It would be true with any other woman but you. But the truth is, what I can see now, is that we already had the relationship. We always supported each other, were there for the other no matter what shit happened. The emotional side was already there. It is already there, no matter what either of us might have thought or how much we try to deny it."

Danger, Will Robinson. I think this is the most I've ever heard from him at one time, and it was really screwing with my tenuous grip on my composure.

I sucked in a deep breath and sighed. "Maybe that's partially true. But here's the thing, I simply can't believe that everything about your view on relationships has done a permanent 180 in the last week. Maybe it's just to protect myself or whatever, but I still think it's just a stress reaction and you'll be back to your normal, hands-off routine in a couple of weeks."

"Babe, I have never been hands-off with you," he said with a slight smirk.

"You know what I mean!"

Ranger sighed suddenly and massaged the back of his neck as he walked over to my couch. He sat down, his elbows on his knees as he rested his head in his arms.

"You okay?" I asked tentatively as I cautiously approached him. I'd never seen him look so defeated. I just hovered at the other end of the couch, unsure whether I should sit down next to him or run screaming into the night before he sucked me into his magical zone where my brain shuts down and my hormones take over.

"I just can't believe how much I fucked up," he said after a minute. "I'm supposed to be this great planner, a military tactician, but I've fucked things up with you from the moment I met you."

"So maybe that's a sign that we're not supposed to be more than friends?" I asked softly. I couldn't stop the pang in my heart at that idea.

His head lifted from his arms and he pinned me with a stare. "It's only a sign that I should have pulled my head out of my ass sooner. It has nothing to do with whether we could work as a real couple. Hell, we've been working as 90% of a real couple for the last two years at least."

"What was this missing 10%?" I asked curiously without thinking.

His gaze turned hot and smoky and his lips tilted up.

"Never mind!" I said quickly. I might be slow at times but I'm not _that_ slow.

"Babe. I'm happy to provide the missing 10% anytime you're ready," he promised. Gulp.

"How kind of you," I managed to respond drily and I got a grin in return.

"Do unto others," he said as his lips settled into his half smile.

"That's do _unto_ others, not do others," I retorted.

His smile widened. "Semantics, Babe."

"That's a very important distinction, Batman."

He just smiled at me, a crooked little grin that looked incongruous with his bruised face. Heaven help me, but I don't know how I managed to not tackle him. My self-control must be improving.

"What do you want me to do, Babe?" he asked after several long minutes of silence.

Hell if I know, I don't even know what I want me to do yet. I closed my eyes with a groan. "No idea."

"Can I stay with you tonight?"

Another internal debate. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Didn't exactly end well the last time we slept together."

"We've just slept together on multiple occasions and nothing bad has happened," he tried to argue.

"Last time I just slept with you, we had a big fight," I reminded him.

"I won't let you leave next time," he promised. "We'll work things out together."

I snorted and glared at him. "Good luck stopping me if I want to leave."

"Babe."

"Ranger."

He sighed. "Please, Babe?"

Oh sweet flying monkeys. "What happened to doing whatever I needed?" I asked.

"You haven't told me what you need."

"I told you it wouldn't be a good idea for you to stay."

"If that's what you need, then I'll go. But you aren't getting rid of me easily, Babe," he promised.

"Did you take any time off after your mission got screwed up?" I asked abruptly.

He looked very briefly confused at my change of subject for a second. "Other than debriefing, no. I came back to see you."

"Then what I need is for you to take some time, to really take time and think about things. Because frankly, if you change your mind a week later if I do decide to give it a chance, I will kill you. And I wouldn't do well in jail, I've dragged too many people back to jail kicking and screaming. So you go on a real, honest-to-God, relaxing vacation and not in the wind or to check on other offices. Then in a month or two, we can talk again if you're still feeling the same way."

"I'm pretty sure the guys would help you hide my body," he said with a slight smile. Eh, he was probably right, but why take chances?

"Is that really what you want?" he asked after a moment.

"That's really what I need. You go away for a real vacation for a couple of weeks and then we'll talk."

"Come with me."

"That would defeat the whole purpose of this experiment."

He stared at me for several long minutes before he sighed. "Fine. I'll try to find someplace I can go for a week without losing my mind. But I won't change my mind."

I kept my mouth shut. Nothing short of thumbscrews or wanton destruction of my shoes would make me talk right now.

Ranger stood and walked slowly towards me, eyeing me like I was going to bolt at any second. He was good, I was considering it.

He got within arms' reach and slowly pulled me into a hug. "I'll go away for a vacation. I'll do whatever you need me to do for you to accept that this is real and not a stress reaction. But nothing is going to change for me and you need to accept that, Babe." And the self-assured Ranger is back. Grrrreat.

He leaned in and kissed me ever so gently. It was barely a whisper of contact, really, I'd almost think I'd dreamed it except this was a freaking nightmare of epic proportions and my dreams about Ranger usually involved him being mostly naked or chained to my bed. Naked.

"I do love you, Babe. And that will never change," he whispered against my lips and I had to clench my hands into fists to keep my fingers from grabbing his hair and pulling him to me for a real kiss.

Then he was gone.

I have _got_ to learn how to do that.

_**Author's note: **__Sorry for the delay. Feels like I start every other author's note with that lately. But my dad got sick and I went down to help him, and then I caught his nasty cold. They always seem worse in spring when the weather's actually half-way decent and you're stuck inside. So I spent today in bed with Ranger and the Merry Men to keep me company (YUM!) and so here ya go! An extra long chapter as an apology._

_So decision time, my loyal friends and readers. Either Ranger can come back from his vacation and time spent really thinking about things (because Steph will accept no less) and then they can have another grown-up conversation or I can throw another monkey wrench in the works because, let's face it, nothing has blown up or gone to shit in a while and that's just not Stephanie's life. _

_So what'll it be? Grown up conversation or angsty drama before the grown up conversation?_

_Hope you enjoy! As always, pretty please let me know what you think!_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Author's note**__: Hi all, I'm having a bit of writer's block right now, so I'm taking a wee bit of a break from 'Distracting Ranger' to wrestle my muse back into her cage._

_Never fear, I __promise__ that I will finish it and that I will begin posting again very soon, but I wanted to give you an update rather than just leave you all hanging. I abhor unfinished stories so I solemnly swear that I will finish it. Soon. I'm just trying to work out the serious conversation (which almost all of you requested) in my head. I've got the monkey wrench scene already written, but I can't seem to freaking get Ranger and Stephanie to sit down and have a real, grown up discussion._

_My muse has decided to run off with Lester Santos instead of Ranger (take that, Batman!), so I've begun posting a new story, titled 'Loving Lester', which was spawned by the fabulous feedback I received from you all in earlier chapters of this story when Steph was dating Les. So if you liked those chapters/ scenes, please give 'Loving Lester' a shot. It's pretty much complete already, so no worries that my muse will run away on it. It just needs a few connectors to make the story flow and to be edited._

_Turns out I'm a Tart, too. Who knew? ;-)_

_So please add me to your author alerts if you'd like to get notice of new chapters of 'Loving Lester'!_

_As a little teaser for what happens when a monkey wrench gets thrown in… in a role reversal, Ranger's going to need Stephanie's help to recover from this one!_

_But I promise there is no real monkey. I thought that monkey in the later books (Carl?) was pretty dang annoying._

_Thanks for your patience! And if you have any ideas of how the conversation should go between Ranger and Stephanie, by all means, let me know!_


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